Ohana
by aslycsi1315
Summary: After Steve makes questionable decisions that put the team in danger on a case; Kono, Danny, and Chin give the team leader an ultimatum that could change everything.
1. Chapter 1

**June 10, 2012 **

"I'm going to kill him."

"At least let the man sleep in peace, Danny."

"Nope, I'm just going to kill him right now."

"Daniel…"

"Don't pull that on me, Chin!"

Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett heard voices, voices that sounded as if they belonged to his team members of the Five-0 task force. The man knew that he was lying on a bed somewhere, most likely in a hospital. He could recognize one of the voices to be his partner Danny William's irritated, worried tone that only came out when McGarrett had done something stupid or was physically harmed on a case.

Which happened a lot…. like today.

The other voice was from HPD Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly. The man's voice seemed calm yet shaky, which confused Steve. He had concluded that he was in a hospital for minor injuries, something that wouldn't have Chin shaken up. Curious and nervous, the ex-SEAL peeked an eye open to see where he was.

"Oh, morning sunshine!" Danny called out to Steve. The blonde detective was standing at the edge of the bed with Chin. The SEAL was right- he was lying on his back in a white, bright hospital. Steve's left leg was elevated and bandaged and he could feel bandages around his head as well. His teammates weren't in any better condition- both men were bandaged up, the detective in worst condition. The cast around Danny's wrist and the large gash on the man's forehead made Steve realize that something very bad had happened.

"Danno….what happened?" Steve whispered. The pain in his voice had no effect on the pissed off detective.

"Don't _Danno_ me! I'd ask you what the hell is the matter with you, but you never answer that question when I do!" Danny yelled. Steve winced at the noise, which prompted Chin to tug on Danny's arm.

"Too loud, brah," Chin whispered to Danny. The detective threw his hands up in the air in annoyance.

"Really, I'm too loud?" Danny exclaimed, "After what this moron did, you're coming after me for being too loud? How am I supposed to act, oh wise one?"

"What…did I do?" Steve asked groggily. Kono's absence and Danny's comments were making him more and more worried.

Danny started pacing next to Steve's bed. "You, my moron of a friend have just beaten every record of destruction that you have already created on this island. I'm sorry- scratch that. You have broken every record on the planet for creating a hell of a lot of destruction in just a little bit of time. Do you do this on purpose?"

"I'm sorry?" Steve closed his eyes to wrack his brain of the day's events. His mind came up completely blank. "I'm sorry, Danny, I can't remember any of what happened. Enlighten me."

"_Enlighten me?"_ Danny repeated angrily. Chin put a hand in front of Danny, who was about three seconds from lunging at his partner. Steve pulled himself up into a sitting position on the bed as the detective calmed down.

"Let's have this wait until morning," Chin told Danny, "Why don't you go back to the hotel and get some rest?"

Both men turned their backs on Steve. "I don't need rest," Danny snapped in a lower voice, "I need to strangle Super SEAL for a few minutes to get my anger out. He could have killed us!"

"Well, that's why the Governor gave me…the thing that _you_ need to tell McGarrett about."

"Why me? Wait… I could use it as payback-"

"What's going on?" Steve asked from the bed. As Danny took a breath to calm himself, Chin walked over to the injured man's side.

"You seriously don't remember what happened?" Chin asked.

Steve blinked and nodded his head _no. _After a quick glance to Danny, Chin said quietly, "This past case….you made some questionable decisions during this case, which could have killed everyone on this team."

Steve froze his mouth agape. Although he was known for bending the rules, Steve was also known for protecting his team with his life. "Tell me everything that happened," Steve said.

"We got a tip about an arms deal in Kahaluu that was supposed to go down this morning. We basically tried to do what we do best-"

From the corner of the room, Danny snapped, "Which in your case, Steven, looking for trouble."

"Danny!" Chin shoed the man before turning back to Steve. "Well, let's just say that you forgot that the rest of us aren't SEALs."

Chin pulled out a HPD case file from his duffel bag that was sitting at the foot of the bed. He laid two photos side by side on the bed sheets near Steve. Both photos showed the remains of a two story home. In one of the photos was Danny's totaled Camaro.

"What the hell…." Steve gasped.

"You also somehow indirectly broke my arm and Kono's and we weren't even in the same car!" Danny exclaimed from his spot.

"Danny, let him breathe!" Chin repeated, now with a hint of anger in his voice. "One thing that we know about this case was that your friend Joe had an inkling about one of the dealers and you wanted to check it out off the books-"

"Like a moron!" Danny added. "Oh by the way, if you say Joe White's name within fifty miles of me, I will kill you with my bare hands."

"Danny, Joe is a good guy-" Steve said before he was cut off.

Danny angrily placed two hands on the bed rail. "What the hell did I just tell you about saying his name?"

"Ok." Chin pulled Danny towards the door. "Get some sleep, Steve. We can talk about this more in a few hours."

"Wait…guys. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," Steve repeated, "Just tell me what happened."

Danny pushed past Chin and gave Steve a murderous glare. He said, "You went off on your own and like the good teammates that we are," Danny pointed to himself and Chin, "we tried to get you the hell out of danger. But you being a bloody modern day Captain America was too stubborn to come with us. Basically, we couldn't get out of one of the arms dealer's house in time, the other arms dealers brought their many friends with guns, and we all got stuck in a firefight."

Steve closed his eyes and winced. It was the one thing that he hoped to never do- endanger his ohana. It took a minute to realize that someone was opening the door. The door creaked open and a battered Kono slipped into the room. With her good arm, she gave Steve a quick wave and asked Danny, "Does he know yet?"

Steve sat up, completely alert. Taking the lead, Chin placed a comforting hand on Steve's shoulder. "I'm sorry, brah. The Governor is beyond pissed at your actions and demoted you. You no longer run Five-0….I do."

Steve stammered. "How- why would- does the Governor-"

Danny and Chin exchanged looks. The HPD Lieutenant stated, "Yes, the Governor knows. It was a lovely phone call in trying to explain why his entire task force was in the hospital. He thinks you're out of control-"

"You do too?"

"Yes. Here's the deal, Steve. We all think that you've gotten really irrational and out of control as of late. We all had to lie when the Governor asked us for our opinions on you so that you could keep your job. So for us to all to still work as an ohana, you have to let this Shelburne and Joe White thing go for a while."

Steve protested, "I can't just-"

"We all can't run into your crazier than usual stunts anymore. Danny's got Grace, I have Malia, and Kono has Adam. Regular crazy we can take," Chin ignored Danny's raised eyebrow, "but this is to a whole new level. So drop this hunt, get back on your feet, come back to your family, and then you can start looking again."

"But-"

Chin sat down on the edge of the bed. "The FBI, CIA, and DoD will handle the case while you get yourself together. We also want you to get away from Joe for a while. The man has heart and good intentions, but he's leading you down a rabbit hole that I'm not sure that you can come back from. Basically, Steve, it's your ohana or this hunt for a ghost. What's it going to be?"


	2. Chapter 2

"You wanted to see me?"

Steve looked up to see Joe White standing at the doorway. His old mentor stepped into the room casually as if nothing were wrong. It was approaching ten at night and his other team members were scattered throughout his hospital room, all asleep.

"Yeah, come in." Steve had been lying on his side. He pushed off his sheets and sat up the best that he could. Joe walked over to the side of his bed, swerving between Kono's dangling legs from her chair and Danny's spot on the floor. As Joe came closer, Steve could see dark shadows around the man's eyes and a busted lip.

"You look like hell," Steve commented.

Joe looked around the room and shrugged. "At least I don't look like your team does."

"I'm guessing you heard about….what happened in Kahaluu."

Joe pulled a chair to the side of the bed. He sat down and shook his head at the injured man in front of him. "Son, "Joe said, "All I know is that the man I told you to talk to is dead. What happened?"

"The lines that separate the hunt for Shelburne and doing my job disappeared today, Joe." Steve stopped and took in the injuries of his teammates. Some of the memories of the incident had trickled in during the last few hours, making Steve feel worse and worse.

"Well, that's the job, son-"

"No Joe!" Steve lowered his voice down to a whisper, "I made bad, stupid decisions that could have cost me my team member's lives. It already cost me my job as the leader of this team and nearly cost me my friendships. Joe, they gave me an ultimatum."

"You're kidding? What was it?"

"Them or the hunt for Shelburne….and I decided to go with them. That's why I called you over here. I promised them that I'd let Shelburne go for a few weeks and get myself together. That also means…..no contact with you."

"That's ridiculous!" Joe stood up and threw his hand in the air. The commotion didn't wake the other team members. "They can't tell you to just stop! And let me guess- Governor Denning gave the leadership job to whom- Danny? Chin? I mean for God sake's, we went to North Korea to rescue you and he didn't demote anyone on this team! You know what Steve- just tell me everything that happened….from the beginning."

**14 Hours earlier- Kahaluu**

"Is that the place?" Danny asked his partner as the Camaro pulled up to a large ranch home on a cliff. Steve pulled the car over to the side of the road and sighed. "Yep," he answered.

"For arms dealers, this is kind of weak. I was kind of expecting a mansion," Danny commented. He undid his seatbelt before he noticed that his partner was watching the house with a pondering look. Danny glanced between Steve and the house before exclaiming, "Oh, no…..I know that face! We're here to check this out, not blow or shoot the place up."

Steve furrowed his brow. "Seriously? So this is my ass-kicking face?"

"No, that's your how- do- I- get- everyone- else- out- of- here- before- I- do- something- stupid face," the blonde detective muttered. Danny stepped out of the Camaro and slammed the door shut. Steve watched him walk back to Kono's car. Although Steve hated to admit his faults, he knew that Danny was right. Joe White had given him information about one of the arms dealer- Loli Haluu. The man, according to Joe, had knowledge of Shelburne's wareabouts. Of course, Steve didn't tell anyone else about this.

"Hey, Jason Bourne- you with us?"

Steve looked up to see Danny now standing outside of his car window. The ex-SEAL stepped out and played off Danny's comment with an eye roll. Steve wanted to quickly interrogate Haluu in private without the team's knowledge. He already knew that fooling Danny would be a problem- the detective was already staring at Steve suspiciously.

Steve stepped in front of the group after strapping on his Kevlar vest. He said, "Here's what we do: Chin and Kono, you two are going to take the basement while Danny and I take the front. I want whoever's in that house alive, ok?" The other members nodded before pulling out their weapons.

Chin and Kono took point and crept under the house balcony towards the basement door. Steve and Danny waited thirty seconds before running quietly to the front door. Steve pressed an ear against the front door and heard silence. He then turned to his partner and mentally counted down, _Three, two, one- go. _

Steve kicked the front door open and yelled, "Five-0!"

Both men entered the home and found themselves in an empty living room. Danny ducked his head into the kitchen and yelled, "Clear!"

Danny and Steve could hear Chin and Kono yell from the basement, "Clear!"

"No one's here?" Danny asked. Steve ignored his question and looked down the hallway to see a door to a bedroom slightly ajar. Also ignoring Danny's glare, Steve raised his gun and started to walk slowly down the hallway, cautiously. When he reached the door, Steve pushed it open with his free hand and found a short Hawaiian man sitting in a wheelchair. From the mug shots of the dealers that the team had pulled up earlier, Steve recognized the man to Loli Haluu.

"Haluu! Hands up!" Steve yelled.

Haluu, who was staring blankly out the window, did not respond. Steve marched to the man's side and repeated, "Hands up!"

Once again, Haluu didn't respond. Steve contemplated using a _unique_ tactic to get the man to comply, but his partner walked into the bedroom.

"Kono and Chin have cleared the basement, but we have a problem- Haluu's many, many friends are coming up the road. I personally do _not _want to die today so," Danny snapped a finger, "let's go."

"I'll meet you out front in a second," Steve took note of Danny's annoyed look, "Just give me a second. I'll head out the back and meet you guys by the back trail. I want to have a private chat with this guy."

"A private chat? What are you- I don't want to know." Danny sprinted off towards the basement, leaving Steve alone with Haluu. By now, the man in the wheelchair's demeanor had completely changed; he was now staring at Steve with a glint in his eye. Steve angrily grabbed Haluu by the shoulder and growled, "You know about Shelburne?"

"I have absolutely no idea-"

"Cut the crap, Haluu! I know that you have ties to Wo-fat and Shelburne! You tell me where they are and I'll protect you-"

"I don't need protection, _haole_," Haluu sneered at Steve. The ex-SEAL tightened his grip on the man's arm. . The ex-SEAL planned on a few more words with Haluu, but stopped when Danny reappeared at his side. It was at that moment that Steve could hear the loud noises of at least five big engine vehicles pulling up to the front of the house.

"Seriously McGarett, we have to leave!" Danny yelled.

Haluu smiled maliciously as Danny dragged Steve towards the backdoor. As soon as they stepped outside, they heard yells and gunshots from the front yard. Steve looked over his shoulder to see seven SUVs and trucks and fifteen heavily armed men running towards them. Both Danny and Steve sprinted towards the Camaro.

"That was a long second!" Danny growled. Steve started the car and saw a hail of bullets land in the grass nearby.

"Call Kono and Chin and have them follow my lead on the trail," Steve replied calmly. He drove onto the Waihee trail while Danny dialed Chin and Kono.

"Steve, what the hell was that?" Kono yelled as soon as she answered.

The ex-SEAL made a sharp turn onto a dirt road. He said, "Sorry, I had to ask Haluu about Shelburne-"

"Shelburne?" Danny exclaimed, "Where the hell did this come from?"

"Partner, you trust me?"

Danny gripped the arm rest anxiously. "Of course, I do, but now I'm beginning to doubt it!"

"Well….." Steve made a sudden sharp turn onto another dirt road. Danny whipped his head back to see that Kono's SUV to the left of the Camaro and the seven vehicles from the arms dealers catching up to them. The blonde detective lowered the window and started firing towards the cars. His partner made another sharp turn that put them over a bump in the road. Danny wasn't prepared and his shooting arm hit the window frame, resulting in a large _crack_.

"Son of a bitch!" Danny screamed at the top of his lungs. Steve yelled, "You ok, buddy?"

"No, Need for Speed, I am not ok. Stop driving this car like a lunatic!"

"I have to- it's the way these trails are. If you want to lose somebody; you do it on these trails!" Steve said. He suddenly floored the gas towards a dirt mound that separated the trails from a grassy field. With Danny screaming for him to stop, Steve drove over the mound and landed smoothly in the field. The SUV, however, did not have the same luck. The SUV went over the mound and bounced when it hit the ground before landing on its side.

Steve quickly u-turned the Camaro and drove over to the SUV. As Kono and Chin climbed out, the seven vehicles that had been tailing the team arrived. Steve sent cover fire, allowing Danny to sprint behind the SUV. The detective dropped to his knees and took a look at his team members. Both were in decent condition, but Kono was in worse shape than Chin.

"Kono what happened to your arm?" Danny asked the youngest member of the team.

Kono was cradling her left arm while holding her pistol in her other hand. "I hurt it going over the mound. I guess SUVs can't move like sports cars."

Danny shot a glare at his partner who said, "It wasn't my fault-"

Danny's eye twitched for a moment before he exploded, "You said one second! Not two, not three- one second, Daniel! What was so damn important that we couldn't wait until we had this guy in custody?"

Chin fired two shots over the top of the SUV. He then ducked back down and asked, "Anyone have a plan?"

Danny took another glance over to his partner, who was staring at his vest with a thoughtful look. The detective froze, immediately knowing that trouble was about to come.

"Oh, no. Please don't," Danny begged. Steve pulled a hand grenade from his vest. He pointed over to the ground. "Stay here and out of sight," he told them, "I've got a plan."

And before anyone could protest, Steve was back in the Camaro, racing down the hill with the seven vehicles chasing after him. The three remaining members sat behind the SUV in shock. Kono was shocked that the dealers had actually followed Steve, Chin was shocked that they were still alive, and Danny was shocked that he hadn't killed his partner already for his daily stupidity.

**Present Day**

"You did all that?" Joe said, "It's not a good thing, but a part of me is extremely impressed."

"What I had told you was the team's versions of the events. How I totaled the Camaro and set a house on fire, I'll never know," Steve replied, "Plus, Haluu is dead."

Joe rubbed the back of his neck. "And he was the only lead we had into finding Shelburne. Damn…"

Steve suddenly saw Danny stirring in his chair. The dark haired man looked to Joe and said sadly, "It will only be for a few weeks until I get everything under control. I'm sorry."

"Me too."

Both men stood quietly, gathering their bearings. After a minute, Joe started walking away. He stopped at the door and looked back to Steve. The younger man settled back in his bed before adding, "Joe, just because I'm not actively looking, doesn't mean that you have to stop as well."

Joe paused, his eyes suspicious. "I'm guessing that's on a need to know basis."

Steve grimaced and replied, "Yes, this stays between you and me."


	3. Chapter 3

Early the next morning, Steve sat on his hospital bed in his street clothes. He was waiting for his discharge papers and his ride, Danny, to come. The man hadn't slept well after Joe had left- his old mentor's departure had somehow woken Danny, who started asking questions. Steve answered in the best way he felt that he could- he lied about who had come to visit.

_I shouldn't have done it, _ran through Steve's head as he watched the clock that hung by the door. Danny had bought the lie before falling back asleep, leaving Steve in the clear. The heavy conscious that he carried was already beginning to bear down on him and he had only agreed to the ultimatum for less than 24 hours.

_Why the hell did I lie? _ The door suddenly opened, revealing a frazzled Danny. Danny didn't even take two steps before he froze and exclaimed, "What did you do?"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're doing that face!"

"Seriously, Daniel. How many faces do I have?" Steve asked playfully as he slowly slid off the bed and onto his good leg. Danny watched him slowly make his way to the door before the blonde detective remarked, "We're going to be great at catching bad guys today…."

"We have a case?" Steve asked.

"Yep, we're going to the woods and oh- I almost forgot. Until your leg fully heals and I'm done being pissed, _I'm_ driving _your_ car."

"What? No-"

Danny crossed his arms and smirked. "You raised hell and a little more yesterday. This isn't up for negotiation." Danny could see the glare on his partner's face and added, "I love you, too."

**Likhia Reserve Park, Oahu**

"So no one ever told me," Steve said as Danny pulled the truck next to a HPD car, "why Chin is in charge. You're next up in command."

"I know that, Steven," Danny answered. He put the truck in park and turned to his partner. "Chin volunteered for the job since I have that thing with Rachel and Grace. You do remember the thing I have going with Rachel and Gracie, right?"

Steve nodded, trying hard to hide that he wasn't 100% sure of what Danny was talking about. Maybe it was the concussion from the day before acting up or that he had truly been distracted with Wo-fat – either way, Steve was drawing a blank.

Danny caught on immediately. "You don't have a clue what I'm talking about."

"I do, it's just…a lot on my mind, Daniel." Steve pulled himself out of the passenger seat and landed on the muddy grass on his good leg. Danny jumped out of the driver's seat and walked towards Steve, oddly wearing a big grin.

"This is why the no Wo-fat-no Shelburne break will be good for you, babe. Look I know that it's hard on you," Danny stated, "but it'll be really good for you to recharge and soon be able to catch both of them fully charged. And by the way, Rachel is staying on the island and-"

"Moving in with you and Grace," Steve finished. He ran a hand through his hair, disappointed in himself. When Rachel's husband ,Stan, had wanted to move to Las Vegas, Danny had threatened legal action over Grace. Surprisingly, Rachel had decided along with staying in Hawaii, it was also a good time to finally leave Stan.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up, Rambo. Contrary to popular belief," Danny bent under the police tape that surrounded a four mile radius of the crime scene, "You aren't perfect."

"Liar," Steve laughed. He stepped around an officer before seeing a shallow grave filled with seven severely burnt bodies. Standing at one end of the grave was Max, who looked up when Danny and Steve arrived.

"Good morning. I hope you two have recovered since the incident in Kahaluu," Max stated before promptly talking about the bodies, "There are seven male victims here, all appearing to be victims of arson. However, I cannot fully assess the bodies until I have taken and examined them back at the medical examiner's office."

"Thank you, Max," the blonde detective replied. He kneeled down next to the grave and pointed to a white shard of plastic. "This shouldn't be here. I'm thinking the killer dropped this right before burying the bodies. What do you think, Steve?"

Steve didn't reply. Danny turned to see his partner staring off into the distance. Danny stood and waved a hand in front of Steve's face. "Hey! Super Ninja- you with me?"

"Did you see that?" Steve pointed over to the edge of the field where both men could only see swaying tall grass and a beautiful overlook of the ocean.

"It's a wonderful view, Steven. Now can we-"

"I think someone was watching us," Steve said, keeping his eyes focused at the edge of the field. Danny rolled his eyes and said, "It's probably a bystander checking us out. You know that comes with being law enforcement, right? You see dead bodies equals-"

Steve cut him off. "I get it, Danno." The man gave another good look towards the field. Steve was almost certain that someone had to have been watching them and it didn't sit right about with him at all. However, it was his gut feeling against everyone else's so with an annoyed sigh, he turned his focus onto the crime scene, still thinking about their possible audience.

**Five-0 Headquarters**

A few quiet hours had passed since Danny and Steve had gone to the crime scene. CSU had found very little evidence around the grave and on the body. With Max insistent on doing the autopsies on each individual by himself, the team quickly found themselves stuck in "limbo" as Danny called it- no bodies, no IDs, no witness yet still a case. After an hour of work in the morning, Steve was now heading back to the office after going to a session of physical therapy.

The ex- SEAL made his way down the hallway with his eyes focused on the team's offices. Chin was knee deep in paperwork not even twelve hours after taking the leadership job. Kono and Danny seemed as if they had adjusted fine to the changes, unlike Steve. He felt off in not being the team's leader- without the responsibility, the man felt lost.

When he arrived at his office, Steve noticed that there was a small letter on his desk. Curious, he peeked his head into the hallway, half expecting Danny or Chin to walk in, but no one came. With his _ohana's _attention focused elsewhere, the ex-SEAL ran his finger under the flap and pulled out a crumpled, coffee stained sheet. Steve placed the letter onto his desk and read,

_I'm writing this ten minutes after you and Danny had left the hospital this morning. I have discovered a major move in the hunt for Shelburne. I know you want to keep your promise to the team, but you need to know this. It turns out Shelburne was somewhere in Asia- Japan, I believe- and is now being moved to Hawaii. This means that a lot of bad things is about to go down. It doesn't help that when Wo-fat figures out that you aren't looking for the time being, he'll take that as a major sign of weakness. The moment this happens, that man is going to bring one hell of a fight to your doorstep that'll put everyone you love in danger._

_PS- know you want to make your ohana happy, but honestly Steve- __now __is not the best time to do this. You __have to__ tell them what I just told you and you need to get back to finding Shelburne. _

_-Joe_


	4. Chapter 4

_What the hell? _Steve reread the letter over and over with those words repeating frantically through his head.

_Shelburne is coming?_

_Wo-Fat knows about the team's deal with me?_

_Why the hell did Joe put this all in a letter?_

Steve quickly rubbed his hair in frustration before formulating a plan of attack.

First thing first, he needed to find Joe. He knew that Joe White couldn't walk into the Imperial Palace unnoticed- he was a constant visitor. Even if he had walked in recently, one of the Five 0 members would have caught him in a heartbeat.

With those thoughts in mind, Steve executed his first move- checking the front desk.

Once downstairs, Steve walked over to the main desk where a small blonde woman was happily typing away at her computer. Steve waved the letter and asked, "Excuse me miss, did you deliver this message upstairs?"

The secretary blinked furiously before answering, "Oh yes, Commander McGarrett. A little boy about eight came and said his father wanted you to have it. The little boy left about ten minutes ago."

_Using a little kid to deliver this message? Wow- Joe's taking this no talking thing to the tee. _Steve gave the secretary a gracious smile before heading back towards the elevator. Even when the doors closed in front of him to head to the floor of the headquarters, Steve could feel a curious stare coming from the secretary.

When the elevators reopened on the floor of the headquarters, Steve moved as fast as he could towards his office. From the main door he could see that neither Chin nor Danny were sitting in their offices. The youngest member of the team was standing next to the team's small "lunch area" where there was a coffee pot and a small fridge. Chin's unknown wareabouts weren't as nerve wracking as the unknown wareabouts of Steve's very suspicious partner Danny Williams.

"Am I going to have to put a bloody GPS on you?"

Steve grimaced and turned to see Danny standing behind him shooting a dark glare. Steve chuckled, "Hey….what I miss?"

"We've got a person of interest at West White Beach," Danny stated, "According to our friendly medical examiner, we got two IDs that tie a man named Harry Dunes. As soon as you tell me about the secret field trip that you just took, we can go."

Steve furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You have a broken leg, babe. Come on, what's going on? You were gone five minutes- you couldn't have even left the building."

Steve crossed his arms. "Why are you so suspicious of me as of late?"

"What do you mean _as of late_? You are following the terms of our deal, right?" Danny snapped.

"Of course. Of course-"He quickly decided to change the topic. "So Harry Dunes?"

Danny eyed him suspiciously before he pulled up a mug shot photo. "This guy is a recent release and is known for having a million aliases. If we want to find him, we start here."

_That was close. _Steve beckoned towards the door. "After you, partner."

**West White Beach- Waikiki**

Steve felt the truck come to a complete stop before looking over to his partner. Danny seemed past exhausted, no doubt due to the chaos of the last 48 hours. He wanted to ask how Danny felt, but remembered that it wasn't the best time. Even on days where Steve kept his 'stunts' to a minimum, Danny wouldn't always share his feelings, especially on this matter.

Danny stepped out of the car and wiped his brow. The small beach was empty, most likely due to the incoming storm clouds that would soon sweep Oahu. The only ones left were five surfers and a group of young adults.

"Let's ask those fine, outstanding citizens if they know this guy," Danny said, commenting on the group of young adults smoking amongst themselves. Danny trudged forward through the sand, calling out, "Hey kids!"

Every member of the group stopped what they were doing and shot Danny pissy looks. Steve held up his badge and the photo of the suspect. "We're looking for this-"

Suddenly, a short white male in the crowd darted forward and took off towards the nearby woods. Danny growled in annoyance before taking off after him. The usually active ex SEAL stayed back, mentally planning a way that he could help. When he saw Danny and the suspect disappear into the woods, Steve realized that once again he was useless.

He moved towards a clearing where both Danny and the suspect had taken off to. The commander peered in, examining the area for a safe way in. Before he could decide, the suspect appeared in sight again, racing towards the clearing while watching his back. The suspect tripped on a branch a few meters away before landing on his knee. He pulled himself up before Danny came from behind and tackled him to the ground.

"Nice tackle, Danno," Steve laughed from where he stood. His partner placed a knee on Dunes' neck and rolled his eyes. Steve hobbled down onto the grass the best that he could while Danny handcuffed the suspect.

"Well, you're out of commission and someone's gotta do it," Danny muttered. He turned the suspect onto his back before standing up. In the meanwhile, Steve pulled up pictures of the graves on his phone and flashed it at the suspect.

"We know that you're involved with this," Steve started to say before he was cut off by the now agitated suspect.

"I 'aint do none of that!" Dunes yelled, "I 'aint no-"

Danny kneeled next to the suspect, feigning an empathetic look. "Don't even try man. Now if you just tell us why you cooked up seven people and left them in a grave, everything will be good."

The suspect glanced left and right before letting out a loud sigh. "Just 'cause I got a record, don't mean that I killed anyone. I don't get into any of that stuff, _Detective_." The man spit onto the ground by Danny's feet. Steve leaned against one of his crutches and quickly smacked the end of the other against the suspect. The suspect let out a, "Oww, what the hell?" which had no effect on Steve and Danny.

"It is a simple question- why did you do it?" Danny replied. The suspect answered harshly, "I didn't do anything, haole!"

"Ok." Steve leaned against a tree and handed Danny one of his crutches. His partner raised an eyebrow at first, but then smile when he caught on to the plan. Steve held back the urge to crack a joke at the feeling that his aggressive, out of control ways were having a big effect on the once, no nonsense detective.

"What are you doing?" the suspect nervously stammered. Danny examined the crutch with a mock interest. "My partner here is a SEAL, which means he's one of the few that has taken how to torture with basic household items 101. Yeah Steve- I think this should work-"

"No! Don't do it! Don't do it!" the suspect cried out. Steve leaned against the tree and calmly asked, "Why did you do it?"

The suspect scooted towards a palm tree. "I didn't do it- I mean I was involved because I found the guys on the island and he had told me to-"

"Who's _he_?"'

"You won't believe me-"

Danny grimaced before telling the suspect, "I am not in the mood for this. I have my ex-wife moving in with me and my partner tried to be Batman yesterday and was blowing up things that I didn't even know could blow up, so I am _really _tired. If you don't tell us right now, I swear to God."

"Alright, alright." The suspect looked around nervously before whispering, "It was a hit ordered by…..Wo Fat."


	5. Chapter 5

"You're serious?" Steve exclaimed, "Wo Fat gave you the order to kill those men?"

Dunes' hands were shaking as the man kept his eyes locked on the crutch in Danny's hand. "Yes. He gave me $5 million to hunt down those scum bags and lead them to some cabin by Haleakalā out on Maui. He also said that once I did my job, he'd never contact me again."

Danny snorted. "I'm guessing you don't know about Wo Fat's cleaning up loose ends detail, do you?"

Dunes' eyes widened. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he stammered. The partners exchanged looks before turning their backs on Dunes. Danny crossed his arms and muttered, "The man's good as dead. I'm thinking since he made me run and gave serious attitude, we let him go and have Wo Fat deal with him."

When Steve didn't respond, Danny rolled his eyes and nonchalantly added, "Or we can just shoot him ourselves."

No answer.

"Hey!" Danny snapped his fingers in front of Steve's face. "You with me?"

Steve waved Danny away while slowly turning towards the ocean. "Yeah, yeah. Do what you what you need to do….."

Danny's voice had climbed to a yell. "I just suggested shooting a suspect and your response is _do what you need to do_?"

"Yeah, Danno," Steve replied softly, "I'm going to go for a walk-"

"Right now? While we have a suspect, a really dumb one might I add?" Danny exclaimed.

With his head down, Steve answered, "Yeah," before walking towards the beach. Danny sadly watched his partner before shooting his nervous suspect a glare. Dunes cowered down like a scared child, leaving Danny no choice to sit, run a hand through his hair, and wait for his partner.

_This just keeps getting better and better, _Steve thought as he made his way up the beach. He had walked far enough to be out of earshot from Danny and Harry Dunes. The events of the past 24 hours was coming down on him- hard and fast. The ultimatum, Wo Fat's involvement in a local murder, and the brewing storm of Shelburne's return to the island was too much for the ex-SEAL to handle all in one moment. He needed five minutes, just five minutes where he could clear his mind.

_Why don't you just tell them about Shelburne_? Steve asked himself. _You've had pertinent information that could have helped this case out and you withheld it. This takes priority over the deal you made- they'll understand….right?_

He scratched his head again in frustration. The ex- SEAL was beginning to realize that he needed to speak to Joe ASAP. Steve closed his eyes and took a deep breath before dialing Joe's number. His ex-superior answered after the first ring.

"Took you long enough to call," Joe grunted on the other end. He sounded exhausted and very irritable to Steve. "Can I assume you told your team everything?"

"No, Joe….no, I didn't," Steve answered with a sigh, "We have a local case and Wo-Fat's involved."

There was a long pause on the other end; a pause that Steve assumed was being filled by Joe quietly fuming. While waiting for Joe to speak, Steve scratched his head and looked over his shoulder for Danny. His partner was no longer where he had been left- Danny was now trudging up the beach with Dunes.

After a minute passed, Steve called out, "Joe?"

"I'm coming to Five-0 right now," Joe sternly stated before hanging up. Steve groaned and rubbed his tired eyes. If Joe was going to the headquarters, Steve's lie about following the ultimatum would come to light. It was not something to be done during a case or during the anxious state Steve was in.

"Who were you talking to?" Steve suddenly heard from behind him. Danny had arrived and thrown Dunes head first into the sand. The detective plopped down next to Steve. "You ok, Steven?"

Steve attempted a smile, which appeared to Danny as a grimace. "I'm ok, Danny," he answered softly, Don't-"

"Worry?" Danny jokingly held up his head in mock disgust, "When have I ever worried about you?"

Steve dropped his head and chuckled quietly. Danny placed both arms on his knees and smiled at Steve's brighter behavior. Danny added when Steve looked up, "I'm just glad that you've agreed to take a break. I know it's hard-"

Steve bit his lip to hide his guilt. _Tell him. Either he hears it from you or Joe. _"Danny, I-"

"Hold that thought," Danny looked down to his pocket and pulled out his vibrating cellphone. He put up a finger and answered, "Detective Williams….…really now? Dunes just told us the very same thing…we'll be back in about ten minutes. Alright, bye."

"Who was that?" Steve asked nervously.

"That would be Chin. He and Kono found a manifest registered to a close associate of Wo Fat's that has a lot of items one would use to execute a hit like this. The manifest was found in this genius'," Danny pointed to Dunes, "apartment. So I'm going to check-"

"I'm coming," Steve stated and stood his ground, ready to shoot down any arguments from Danny. As expected, Danny said, "I think it's best you sit this part out, McGarrett.

Steve rolled his eyes and replied, "I can handle this-"

"No, you can't-"

"I'm not going to do anything stupid-"

Danny angrily stepped closer to Steve. "This isn't about you doing anything stupid-"

"It's about the deal, huh?"

"NO! It's about this obsession-"

"I'm not obsessing! Wo Fat is involved in a case and I'm not going to stop our deal from letting me do my job, Danno!"

"You know what? Take some time and cool off," Danny yelled. He grabbed Dunes by the shoulder and marched off. Steve scowled at his partner before following him. As much as he didn't want to talk to Danny right now, he needed a ride back to headquarters.

**Five-0 Headquarters**

"What….the…..hell," Danny gasped as he parked Steve's jeep in front of the Ioloni Palace. They had just come from releasing Dunes into HPD custody before arriving to pure chaos out in the parking lot. Fifteen HPD officers were surrounding the remains of a badly burnt car. While the officers were searching for evidence, Steve and Danny could see Kono speaking with a witness behind the police tape.

Danny ripped off his seatbelt and ran over to Kono. Kono thanked the witness before turning to Danny and sighing, "This is bad, brah."

"Car explosions aren't usually a good thing," Danny replied, feeling a little nervous that there was some kind of catch.

"No, this is really bad. Danny, it's personal- HPD thinks that-"

Kono was cut off by the arrival of Steve, who asked, "Kono, what the hell…..who's car is it?"

When she didn't respond, Steve took a few steps closer to the car. His recognition of the small gold Navy pin sitting on the dashboard made Steve want to drop to his knees.

"Kono," he gasped, "is that Joe's car?"


	6. Chapter 6

Kono put a hand in front of Steve to prevent him from coming any closer to the crime scene tape. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and worry.

"I'm so sorry Steve," Kono replied sadly, "It is…Chin and I were talking in the office when we heard an explosion from outside. By the time we got out of the building, the car was completely torched. EMS just got here and as you can see," she pointed to the remains, "they just put the fire out."

_I just talked to him, not even twenty minutes ago!_ "So- so-so, this means that Joe's dead?" Steve stammered. His entire body felt numb and his world was beginning to spin.

"Until Max confirms it, we can't be sure if Joe was in the car," Danny said from his position next to Steve, "Did anyone see Joe leave the building or even his car?"

"That's the thing," Chin answered, "All of the witnesses didn't see anyone leave the car. Actually, one woman said that it kind of just appeared. I think it was the secretary that said that."

Steve swallowed hard and placed a hand on the police car that group had been standing next to. He slowly lowered himself to the ground with some aid from Danny. "She….um, she didn't see anything? At all?"

Chin shook his head sadly. "No, no one saw anything."

Steve buried his head in his hands and tried to get control of himself. _Think, think, think,_ he told himself. _This can't be happening- if Joe's dead, it's on me. _

Danny, who was kneeling next to Steve, took a hard look at the remains of Joe's car. As his partner quietly panicked next to him, Danny took a minute to really examine the car.

Three HPD officers were talking with a fireman as the rest of EMS were preparing to pull back from the scene. Danny squinted at the roof of the car- or what was left of it. He couldn't see a body, which made the detective's heart jump.

"They didn't check for a body yet, did they?" Danny asked Kono with a nervous excitement. She glanced over to her cousin before stating, "I'll go check."

Kono sprinted off to the center crime scene while Danny and Chin stood next to Steve. The ex-SEAL was now staring in deep concentration at a spot on the ground. His expression made Danny nervous.

"McGarret?" Danny called out, "You aren't planning to go on a vendetta spree right now, are you?"

Steve turned his body towards Danny and snapped, "Seriously, Danny? Right now? You're going to jump on me for my usual stuff _right_ now of all times?"

"Come on, let it go- both of you. Steve, how about you go home and rest?" Chin suggested.

Steve suddenly pulled himself onto his feet and exclaimed, "No, I want to catch the son of a bitch that did this right now."

"Or we can-"Chin trailed off at Kono's brisk walk towards the team. When she arrived, Kono waved Steve and Danny close to her. "Steve," she said slowly, "they didn't find a body in the car."

Almost immediately, Steve whipped his head around looking for Joe. He couldn't see a thing mainly because of the dozens of people in the parking lot. The man desperately hoped to see his ex-superior standing in the crowd, perfectly fine.

"Ok, let's not panic," Chin said. He stepped forward, centering himself between Danny and Kono. "Let's get traffic cameras, witness statements, and everything on Joe's wareabouts since the incident in Kahaluu. He'd promise to stay away so I want to know what or who changed that."

Steve began to panic again. _His phone records! They'll see that his last call was….me. _"How about I do that, Chi-"

Danny stepped in. "No, no, no babe, I got it-"

With a loud sigh, Steve said, " No….actually, I need to tell you something that explains exactly why Joe was here, but….um, I think you'll need to sit down-"

"You didn't follow the deal, did you?"

Chin and Kono's jaws dropped at Danny's question. Steve looked between each member before admitting, "Yes. Joe's been in contact with me about Shelburne. How did you know?"

The blonde detective quietly crossed his arms and shook his head in disbelief. "Because I know you, Steven. That's your _I'm so guilty I'm going to explode_ look."

"Danny, I can explain-"

Danny held up a hand to stop Steve. He kept a glare on Steve and asked Chin, "Do you mind…..I need five minutes….to you know…. cool off before I kill Super SEAL with my bare hands."

"Yeah, go ahead," Chin replied. Danny walked over to a tree a few yards away and sat down with his head in his hands.

Next to Chin, Kono shot Steve a disappointed look. "I can't believe that you lied to us on such an important issue right now! Just tell me- did you get anything pertinent on anything from Joe?"

"Actually, yeah….I got a lot." Steve pulled out the letter from his back pocket. He had been carrying it ever since he received it for reasons unknown to him. Steve handed it over to Chin, who eyed it quickly. The new leader's eyes widened when he got to the bottom of the letter. Dani

"You knew about this for days," Chin muttered in disbelief, "Steve, if any of us had this letter, you'd be upset."

"I know, but I did this to protect you guys-"

"And your actions may have killed Joe!" Kono yelled. Chin pointed over to Danny and told her, "Go cool off, cuz. I'll deal with him."

"Fine," Kono growled before storming off towards Danny. Chin called over a HPD officer to him and Steve. "Steve," Chin said, "Go home. This officer will take you home and make sure that you actually stay there. That's an order."


	7. Chapter 7

**McGarret Residence**

Steve limped into the living room of his quiet, empty home with his assigned HPD officer behind him. The ride from the Palace had been awkward, as the young HPD officer attempted to ask Steve every question he could think of about Joe. Steve hadn't responded to any of the questions, as his mind was locked on the image of the remains of Joe's car.

"Are you ok, Commander? Do you think Joe's alive?" the HPD officer asked as he watched Steve slowly lower himself onto the couch. Steve sighed loudly and placed his crutches next to him. The officer's eyes were filled with a hint of excitement as he stood by the door, eager for an answer.

_Put the kid out of his misery. _"Physically, I'm a little sore. Mentally," Steve said, "is a whole other story. And I can only hope that things will be ok."

Steve paused, half expecting the officer to excitedly go off into a pep talk that he felt the Commander needed. When he heard nothing, Steve looked over to see the officer staring back. Steve reluctantly finished, "I screwed up big on this case and I don't know if I'm going to be able to fix it."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No. Unless you have a time machine to take me back to two days ago, you can't help me." Steve glanced over to the clock before deciding, "I'm going to lay down for a bit."

As he slowly headed for his bedroom upstairs, he thought, _I need time to think about who could have done this to Joe. The faster we end this, the faster I fix my mistakes with the team._

**Ioloni Palace Parking Lot**

"I'm going to break his neck," Danny growled under his breath. He had just finished reading the letter that Joe had written Steve for the third time.

"Wo Fat, Shelburne, or Steve's?" Kono asked from her spot on the curb. She was examining a small object thought to be from the front bumper of Joe's car.

"All three. I haven't decided which order yet." Danny stood up and gave the letter another quick glance, "How the hell did he keep this from us?"

"It's Steve. What do you expect?" Kono snorted. Chin, who had overhead their conversation from a few feet away, angrily came over to them and exclaimed, "Guys, we need to focus on the fact that Joe is still missing! We can deal with Steve later."

"Yeah, we know. Kono and I needed just a moment to vent. So boys and girls, let's review." Danny started pacing between the tree he had been sitting at and the curb. "We have the remains of Joe's car, no doubt blown up by a car bomb. At least two dozen HPD officers are combing the area for any signs of Joe. Not for the to-do list, we still need to comb through Joe's stuff. And because the lying SEAL has upped the ante on his usual crazy, I say we look through Steve's activity for the past few days very lightly-"

Chin's eyes widened in disbelief. "Steve isn't a suspect-"

Danny angrily held up two fingers. "Slow down, wise guy. I didn't accuse _my _partner of being a suspect. All I said was that we should peek around to make sure he didn't leave anything else out."

"You don't trust him-"

"Of course, I do! Why are you defending him?"

"Why can't I?"

Both men were seconds from being in each other's faces before they heard a chipper, "Good afternoon, gentlemen," from behind. It was the medical examiner, Max, standing with his forensic case in hand. Max looked over to Kono before adding with a chuckle, "And lady."

"Hi, Max," Kono replied with a slightly more cheerful tone than earlier, "What are you doing here? There's no body…yet."

"Well on my afternoon three minute walk, I overheard the explosion and the chatter between officers that Joe was missing. I thought my services could be used during the search," Max answered. His bright demeanor left a good impression on Kono. She relaxed her shoulders and took in a deep breath.

"I'm going to go and do the research on Joe and Steve," she volunteered, "Max, why don't you come and help me?"

"With pleasure, Kono,"Max said with a slight bow. He followed her towards the palace entrance and soon was out of sight. With Kono and Max gone, Chin turned to Danny and said, "Look-"

"I'm sorry," Danny apologized, cutting Chin off from saying anything, "I'm just….livid and tired."

"Of course. Besides livid and tired, how are you holding up?"

"Me?! I'm fine, Chin. Just fine….my partner just withheld life threatening information after promising to take a break, my arm is broken because of my partner's hell raising antics, my ex-wife is driving me nuts with this move- in thing, and according to this letter," Danny waved it around, " all hell is about to break loose. But yeah, I'm totally fine."

"No, you're not, brah," Chin gave Danny an empathetic pat on the shoulder, "None of us are. How about you go help Kono and Max and I'll look over the car."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go," Chin told him. Danny sighed exhaustedly and walked towards the palace. Chin turned his attention back to Joe's car. He didn't know where to even start- all he could do his hope to hell that Joe was alive. He didn't know whether he or mainly, Steve could handle another loss.

**McGarrett Residence**

Steve lay on his bed, watching the arms on the clock slowly tick away in his room. He had been home for an hour now; his protection detail was in the hallway talking on a radio while Steve had taken to his bedroom to rest. The exSEAL couldn't sleep at all- the only thing he could think about was his team.

"Commander McGarrett?"

Steve lifted his head from the bed to see the officer standing at the door. Steve rolled over onto his side and exhaustedly answered, "Yeah?"

"There's something you need to see," the officer stammered. Steve narrowed his eyes in confusion at the officer's tone.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"Um…well, why you were resting, I had stepped outside for a moment and I- you need to see this." The officer didn't even wait for Steve to answer. Steve hesitated before he pulled himself onto his feet and onto his crutches. He quickly headed into the hallway and towards the stairs where the officer now stood.

"What is so- oh, wow," Steve stopped in his tracks at what he saw on his couch. The officer nodded at Steve's shocked expression and exclaimed, "I know…..I- he just walked in-"

"Yeah, uh-huh," Steve waved the officer away and called out, "Joe?"


	8. Chapter 8

Steve snapped fingers to get the officer's attention. The man nearly jumped from his position in response. Steve pointed towards the bathroom that was next to his bedroom. "Go get some towels and my first aid kid from the bathroom. And do it fast."

The officer nodded his head frantically, took a few steps back before darting off to the bathroom. Joe sat forward on the couch and grunted, "No need, son. I can get it myself-"

"No, Joe. Sit-"

"I'm ok, Steven." Joe walked up the stairs and sat next to Steve. The man had slowly lowered himself onto the stairs and limped over, alerting Steve that he had some form of an injury. However, Joe had composed himself enough to make it seem as if he was ok.

"You scared the shit out of me, Joe," Steve said.

"Like I said before, I'm alright. Why are you here and not at Headquarters?"

Steve ran a hand over his face in frustration. " Long, _long, _story. What happened to you? Your car is a pile of rubble and ashes outside of the Palace!"

"Same thing as you, Steve. Long story- why don't you call the team?"

"Yeah…." Steve trailed off. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and stared at the call button longingly. Joe waited a minute before asking, "Something wrong?"

"No, it just…" Steve brought his gaze up, but still kept his eyes away from Joe. "Everyone's pretty pissed at me, especially Danno. They didn't know about the letter until we found your car."

"I'm guessing my threat on the phone didn't give you enough time?"

"It did. I just- damn it, Joe. I just couldn't say it for some reason until Danny and Chin suggested looking into your phone records. I'll be lucky if any one of them answers my call."

Joe sighed before standing up and walking to the bottom of the stairs. Steve called out, "Wait, where are you going?"

"To clean my hands. I don't want a rookie cop trying to clean me up. While I do that, you need to call your team to get here and then I'll tell you what happened. Got it?"

Like a young child, Steve quietly answered, "Yeah."

**Five- 0 Headquarters**

Chin quickly jogged up the stairs that led to the headquarters. After examining the car, he had left CSU to complete the rest of the forensics. Now, he was coming to check on the progress made by Danny, Kono, and Max.

Chin pushed open the door and found Kono sitting next to the table top computer with her head against the edge. Max was examining her lower back. Danny was leaning against the other side of the computer and was also talking with someone on his cellphone.

"Yes, dear…..no, Rachel, I'm not mocking you…..well, can we just wait a few days before we buy another apartment…..It's been a really long day. Can I call you back? …..Thanks, bye." Danny placed his cell phone onto the table and turned to Chin. The smirk on the lieutenant face made Danny scowl.

"Rachel problems?" Chin asked curiously. It felt nice to have something other than their current predicament to talk about.

"Yeah….. But it's not my problem at the moment. My main issue is the possible ass kicking we have coming our way since we didn't know about Wo Fat and Shelburne. Here," Danny pulled up the call log from Joe's phone. "As we all now know, Super SEAL was the last person to speak with Joe. Before that, the man had made calls all around the island and overseas.

As of now, I can't exactly tell you who exactly was called or who called Joe-"

Kono snorted and giggled softly, " Who…you sound like an owl, Danny."

The detective's reaction was slow; he stared at her in confusion before a small smile appeared on his face. Danny chuckled lightly, "I do, don't I?"

Chin stayed out of the conversation as he took the time to admire Kono and Danny. The laughter was welcoming, in his book; the last time any of them had even chuckled was the morning of the raid in Kahaulu. Kono's warm smile had returned along with a glint in Danny's eyes.

Chin opened his mouth to join the conversation, but closed it when he felt the vibration coming from the cellphone in his pocket. He answered it quickly, which caught Kono's and Danny's attention.

"Kelly," Chin answered in his usual calm tone.

"Chin, it's Steve. " McGarrett's tone was hesitant, something very peculiar to Chin. The lieutenant commander always had confidence his voice.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I found Joe."

Chin's eyes widened in disbelief and his mouth hung agape. Danny leaned against the computer table top with a curious expression. Kono stepped closer to her cousin and gently touched his shoulder. "Chin, what is it?" Kono nervously asked.

Chin angrily took in a breath with closed eyes. He then opened them and repeated in a shaky voice, "You found Joe?"

"He what?!" Kono exclaimed. Danny angrily balled his fingers in a fist before turning on his heels and walking towards the door. Kono sighed, "I'll keep an eye on him," before running after Danny.

Steve called out, "Chin?"

The eldest team member answered, "Yeah, I'm here. You want to tell me how the hell you found him after I told you to go home?"

There was a pause on the other end where Chin could hear the sound of steps and crumpled paper. Steve spoke after a minute, "He just showed up at my house. The officer you sent as a babysitter can vouch for that. Joe's alive and has minor injuries."

"That's good. I'll tell Danny and Kono. Listen, I'm coming over to get both you and Joe. It's not safe for the both of you to be out there with one cop."

"Ok. We'll be ready, but Chin-"

"I know. You're sorry. Let's talk about that some other time and worry about Wo Fat. See you in 10."


	9. Chapter 9

**McGarrett Residence**

Steve sat down at the base of the stairwell after ending his phone call with Chin. He needed to get upstairs to grab a go bag before Chin arrived. The protection officer had, much to Steve's distaste, helped him up the stairs when they had first arrived. The man knew the logical thing would be to call for help to get upstairs, but as known to all of his friends, Steve McGarret was a proud, stubborn man. He placed two hands on a step and hauled himself onto the higher step. Steve continued the process slowly before stopping halfway to take a breath.

"What is it with McGarrett men and asking for help?" Steve suddenly heard from the base of the steps. It was Joe, standing crossed arms with a big grin on his face. The younger man didn't like it at all; the look on Joe's face reminded him of someone saying _I told you so. _

"I- I'm ok, Joe," Steve stammered. Joe rolled his eyes and jogged up towards Steve. Despite Steve's protest, Joe helped Steve into a standing position and aided him to the second floor.

"You didn't have to do that-"

"Nonsense, Steven. Speaking of nonsense, you want to tell me what's been going with you within the past week?"

"I don't know," Steve replied, "I guess I just…I'm so close to finally ending all of this with Shelburne that I guess I'm just getting nervous. I'm also a little scared- both of my parents were killed because of what they might have known about this. I don't want that to happen to Danny, Kono, or Chin."

"Why didn't you tell them that?"

Steve shrugged and looked away. "I don't know." He paused and took a second to recompose himself. Steve then turned to Joe and said, "Alright, it's your turn. What happened?"

"Well-" Joe stopped when he heard the doorbell ring. He gave Steve a smile and said, "Saved by the bell." He walked down the stairs and over to the door, opened it to find Chin.

"Aloha, Joe. People have been looking for you left and right, my friend," Chin said with a slight smile. Joe shook his hand and replied, "Yeah, sorry about that. It's getting a little dangerous to walk around free right now."

"Of course. Well, I'm here to take you and Steve back to the palace for protection. Someone could have followed you-"

"No one has-"

"Just to be safe, Joe. Where's Steve?"

"I'm over here," Steve called from his spot at the top of the stairs. Both men exchanged awkward looks. Chin looked away for a second while Steve sighed. In two years, there had never been an awkward moment like this between him and any of the 5-0 members.

"You ready?" Chin finally asked Steve after a minute of silence had passed. Steve nodded and pointed to the bag sitting in his room. "I'm ready when you are."

"Alright, let's go then."

**Five-0 Headquarters**

"Wow, Joe's been a busy man," Danny commented when he, Kono, and Max had finished combing through Joe's finances. " He seriously eats at the Hilton Hawaii every week? I can barely afford my room there!"

"Well according to his records, he only spends $50 dollars a week there," Max commented.

"That helps me very little!" Danny snapped.

"You're at the Hilton again?" Kono asked curiously.

Danny brushed back his hair. "Yep, Rachel, Gracie, myself, and Rachel's son cannot live in my teeny tiny apartment. And based on that look on your face, yes, Rachel took her son with her when she left Stan. We are in the suite thanks to ex step Stan's generous child support."

"Where is he?"

"Vegas still, last time I checked. Step Stan calls or skypes to see his son every day, but he still moved to Vegas, regardless. It would kill me if I'd have to Skype with Grace every day."

"Well, he isn't you." Kono's comment made Danny smile. His smile soon faded when he saw Chin, Steve, and Joe walk into headquarters. Danny leaned against the table top computer with crossed arms. Kono leaned close to Danny and whispered, "How do you want to play this?"

"I was planning on the _I'm still pissed at you _approach, but if you want to change it up," Danny joked, "be my guest. Guilt trips work very well with our Super SEAL. Hey, Joe!"

Joe smiled and walked over to Danny. "You still look like hell.":

"Hey, I'm not the one leaving burnt cars all over the island. I'm glad you're ok," Danny said. His eyes darted over to Steve, who was giving him a sorrowful look. Danny refocused and asked, "So what the hell happened today?"

Joe waved Steve over and said, "Might as well tell this story once. After my phone call with Steve, I was on my way to the palace when I noticed that someone was following me. I pulled over into a gas station to see if I get a drop on them when that person tagged something under my car. I ditched it and started heading towards Steve's on foot. Whoever was following me took my truck and brought it to the palace to be a car bomb."

"Most likely remote detonated it from afar," Kono commented, "We need to relook at those traffic cameras."

Steve volunteered, "I can do that-"

"And have you leave out information again?" Danny exclaimed. Joe put up a hand between the angry detective and the younger ex SEAL. " How about we save the arguments for another time and focus on the task on hand? I know you're all pissed- trust me, I understand. But we need as much man power as possible and Steve can help from here."

Kono, Danny, and Chin exchanged looks before Chin agreed, " He's right. Danny, you and Steve can-"

"Wait, why me?" Danny protested.

"Because you two are partners," Chin replied. He turned and walked out with Kono, calling over his shoulder, "Play nice, you two…."


	10. Chapter 10

Steve looked over to Danny, who still wore an angry expression, even after Chin and the others had left. The ex-SEAL pulled up the desktop screen on the table top and said without looking up, "I'm sorry, Danny. I know you're pissed-"

"Pissed isn't the right word…..homicidally ticked more accurate," Danny replied harshly.

"Well, you heard Chin. Let's work now so you can kick my ass later." Steve looked up and saw a slight smile appear then disappear on Danny's face within a few seconds.

The detective then shot Steve a glare and muttered, "Alright. I'll get traffic cameras by the palace and you get the ones by Joe's home. We'll meet here in about 20 minutes."

"Ok." Steve watched Danny briskly walk to his office room. The detective suddenly stopped short and turned back towards Steve. "Screw it, "Danny mumbled, "Why the hell did you lie to us?"

Steve sighed, instantly knowing that whatever answer he could give would be taken badly. "Danno, I am really, really sorry about what happened-"

"Why do I still get the feeling that this will happen again? I'm not talking about your usual craziness, Steven. I get the sickening feeling that your stunts are just going to get worse and worse until one of two things will happen: number one, I'll get a call that you've gotten yourself killed trying to sink an island or something or number two, you will have killed the both of us by trying to- I don't know, drive off of an aircraft carrier to catch a suspect!"

_How'd he even think of that? _Steve thought before saying, "Danny, I would never-"

"Put my life in any serious danger, I know!" Danny starting pacing in front of Steve, "Well, the incident in Kalahuu was pretty up there on the _my life is in serious danger _scale." Danny started back towards his office, "Just forget it. Focus on those traffic cameras.

Before Steve could say anything else, the door wars shut and Danny disappeared into his office.

Twenty minutes later, Steve let out a loud groan after finishing his search through the city's camera between Joe's home and the palace. He struck out on every camera of trying to get a face for facial recognition. Danny, however, had a little more luck and was quietly looking through the videos for the cameras south of the palace in his office.

_Try it again. _ Steve took a loud sigh and walked over to Danny's office. He gave the door a light knock and heard a soft, "Come in."

The ex-SEAL stepped in, his eyes focused solely on Danny. The detective cocked his head slightly at his partner's hesitant behavior.

"Did you find anything?" Danny asked.

"No, but I was wondering if we could sit down and seriously talk, Danno. I know you're pissed about me lying-"

"It's not just about the lying," Danny sighed. His eyes flickered over to the computer screen, making him pause. Steve leaned forward in the chair and tried to get a better look. Danny tilted the screen towards Steve and asked, "Does he look a little familiar to you?"

Steve immediately recognized the individual on Danny's computer. "Yep. I'll call Chin and Kono."

"What did you get?" Chin asked Danny and Steve once he and Kono returned to headquarters ten minutes later. Steve pulled up video and pictures onto the display screens. He pressed the play button allowing all three men and woman to see video from the surveillance camera that sat on the corner of Kali and Hu 'ole, two blocks from the Palace. The video showed Joe's car coming down the street and pulling into the parking lot.

"Wait, that's not Joe!" Chin exclaimed. In the driver's seat, the men could see an Islander step out of the car, pretend to drop an item onto the ground, and place something underneath the car. Danny waited a second and then paused the video on the frame showing the man's face.

"This is Loli Haluu, the man Joe told Steve to super secretly investigate," Danny stated. "Steven, would you like to elaborate since you know him so well? Oh, the man's supposed to be in a wheelchair, by the way."

"Danny!" Chin exclaimed. He angrily narrowed his eyes at the blonde detective and asked sternly, "Can you handle this? Can we focus on catching Wo Fat and not about Steve's lie?"

Danny shot a glare back at his newly appointed superior. "Chin, have you forgiven him-"

"Danny, I'm sure Steve did it to protect us-"

Kono joined the conversation, angry as the blonde detective. "There's a difference between lying to protect and lying at the wrong damn time! You should know this-"

Chin turned to his cousin. "Don't bring up what happened with Uncle right now!" he snapped at her.

"Hey!" Steve yelled, instantly ending all of the arguments. He swallowed hard at the disappointed looks and the angry glares from his team mates. Although he knew that nothing he could say would calm down Danny or Kono, he knew he at least had to try.

"I'm so sorry, but Chin is right- we need to focus on this case. I want this done once and for all so none of you can be in danger anymore." Danny always joked during cases that McGarret was a magnet for trouble and it never bothered him. However, the incidents of the last few weeks were beginning to make him think that the claim was true.

When no tried to stop him, Steve continued, "I was supposed to bring him Haluu to Joe or at least make sure that Wo Fat was connected. I think we need to focus solely on this guy. Is he related to any of the guys that were buried on our case at the reserve park?"

Kono pulled up a document from the file that held the information on the team's case before the car bombing. She quickly scanned through the top of the document before saying with a hint of surprise, "Yes. Haluu has priors and spent a year in jail with the man Danny and Steve spoke to on the beach."

"So our case in Kahaluu, Likhia Reserve Park with the crispy bodies and the car bombing are all related?"

"Yes." Steve stated, "We need to hunt this bastard down. Also, we need to get our families in HPD custody. When we know that they're safe, we'll go back to what's left of the house in Kahaluu and then go from there."

When he finished, Chin grinned brightly. "Now that's the Steve McGarret we all know and love."


	11. Chapter 11

_Now that's the Steve McGarret we all know and love_

For a brief moment, Steve McGarret thought that he was making steps towards forgiveness with his friends. Chin's comment was kind- it made him feel like himself again. Kono's facial expressions showed that she was uneasy about, but Steve realized that the calmness would be short lived based on Danny's look.

The look that showed that he didn't take the comment well at all.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Danny exclaimed.

Chin sighed and ran a hand through his hair." I meant that he's leading again and not moping-"

"I don't want to hear it," Danny snapped. "I'm leaving-"

"Seriously, Danno, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Steve yelled after him. The detective ignored him and angrily walked out of HQ. Kono jogged over to the HQ doors to see Danny lean against the stairwell at the end of the hall and close his eyes. She turned back towards Chin and Steve, who were exchanging looks of disbelief.

Kono nervously started to bite the inside of her cheek. Danny was being irrational, yes, but she knew the reason why. She was the only person that knew that most of Danny's anger wasn't just about the incident in Kahaluu; something else had happened on that very same day that rocked the Jersey detective to his core. Of course, Kono had only known by overhearing the man receive the news of the other incident over the phone. She had kept it to herself to give Danny privacy, but now she knew that she had to say something.

"I can't believe him," Chin muttered, "I think I have to take him off the case."

"No." Kono quietly walked over towards the two men with her eyes focused on Steve. "We're both pissed, Steve, and we have every right to. Danny, on the other hand, is acting out for a reason. I heard that something bad happened to Danny's family that very same day and he's taking a good chunk of his anger about that incident and taking it out on you, Steve."

Steve crossed his arms worriedly. "Kono, what happened?"

Kono paused and composed herself. She then took in a deep breath before sadly saying, "Danny's brother, Matt, was finally tracked down by the FBI. And from what I heard, Matt may have tried to fight his way out or try to escape and was killed. I think in Danny's eyes…..both you and Matt screwed up severely, where Matt paid the price and you got lucky. Add that with Rachel moving in, he's having a hard time."

Chin gasped in disbelief. "And you knew about this for days?"

"It's not like I could walk up to Danny and demand an explanation! He doesn't know that I know!" Kono exclaimed. None of the argument had registered for Steve; the SEAL was still trying to process that a major event had occurred in his partner and once more, the hunt for Shelburne had gotten in the way. The man wanted to kick himself.

Chin exclaimed. Kono-"

"Don't you dare say that you want to take him off the case! All of us are too invested in everything enough as it is- leaving Danny here alone isn't going to help any of us."

Chin didn't respond so Kono continued. "Chin, please," Kono pleaded, " I'll drive with Danny and be his partner for the day."

Her cousin paused before suddenly saying, " Fine. If Danny does anything stupid, it's on you, cuz. We'll meet you down there in twenty minutes." He motioned Steve to follow him, but the ex-SEAL didn't move.

"Can I get a few minutes with Kono and then I'll meet you outside, ok?" Steve asked Chin. Chin nodded and walked towards his office where he could alert HPD by phone of their plans. When they were alone, Steve pulled Kono into a hug.

"I'm so….so sorry, Kono. I shouldn't have lied or gone on my own in Kahaluu," Steve apologized. Kono pulled away and asked, "What were you thinking? And this isn't the only time that you've gone lone wolf on us- don't they teach trust and team work at SEAL school?"

Steve smirked at the words _SEAL school_. Danny's terminology was beginning to run off on everyone else. " They do," he replied, "but I've lost sight of that. I'm so deep with this Shelburne- Wo Fat thing that I can't even remember a normal life."

"Well, _we'll _as in _all of us _will end this once and for all." Kono gave him a pat on the back and a smile. " Just promise that you'll remember that you have to think about your _ohana. _Danny does and that's why he's pissed. His own flesh and blood didn't think of that and you didn't either."

"I promise, kaikaina." Steve watched Kono beam at his use of the Hawaiian word for sister. They both turned to see Chin step out of his office and Danny reentering HQ. Danny walked over towards Steve and Kono before turning to Chin.

"Two things. First- I'm sorry about earlier," Danny apologized quietly. He put both hands in his pocket and kept his gaze low. " Secondly, there's something that I need to tell-"

Steve's phone suddenly rang and interrupted Danny. The SEAL ignored the first ring and kept his focus on Danny. His partner sighed and held out a hand. "You may answer."

Steve gave Danny a gracious smile and answered the phone. " McGarett."

" Commander McGarrett, how's the leg?"

Steve kept his composure at the sound of the caller's voice. It was none other than his enemy- Wo- Fat.

"How did you get this number?" Steve growled. Immediately, Steve started running through possibilities in his head. Everyone's families were safe and Joe was working with HPD on keeping it that way.

"Keep your enemies close, Commander," Wo Fat replied. " It seems you and I have a bit of a dilemma. Both you and I are looking for Shelburne, who we both know will be moved to Oahu very soon. "

"If you think that I'll bargain with you just because I'm injured, you're surely mistaken." Steve looked over his shoulder to see Kono, Danny, and Chin surrounding the table top computer while trying to trace the call.

"Well, given that your team is not in the condition to fight and don't trust you, I think that you will," Wo Fat replied. On the other end, Steve grimaced, thinking _How the hell does he know all of this?_

"Here's a deal that can work for the both of us- it's simple really. You back down and let me finish off Shelburne or everything you stand for and love dearly, including the precious little Grace Williams, will be gone in a blink of an eye. Do we have a deal?"


	12. Chapter 12

"Tick-tock, commander. I'm waiting….."

Steve blinked and quickly came back to reality. A few minutes had passed since Wo- Fat had asked him to stand down on hunting Shelburne. He already knew that his answer was going to be _no_, but the man was stuck on the next move. Steve was most troubled since his actions during the last ultimatum that he faced had blown up in his face.

"McGarrett…"Wo Fat taunted.

Steve looked over to his teammates a couple feet away, who were all huddled around the table. Danny was on the phone warning the protective detail that was keeping an eye on his family, Malia, and Joe White. Kono was frantically tracing the call and Chin was contacting every HPD officer on duty to be on full alert for a possible location on Wo Fat.

"You're stalling, Commander. Or has your actions shaken your ability to lead so much that you're too scared to make move?" Wo Fat asked maliciously. Steve didn't respond and his enemy continued, "It sounds like you can't make a move. Well, based on your actions in the past, you won't back down."

Steve closed his eyes and held his breath. Never in a million years did he expect any of his actions against Wo Fat to backfire against him.

"And on that note," Wo Fat finished, "it will be a pleasure destroying you."

Steve exhaled when he heard a click on the other end, signaling that Wo Fat had hung up. Kono placed two fingers on the touch screen and pulled up a map of the downtown Honolulu area. She moved her finger over a flashing square that covered four street blocks.

"The closest I could get is this area within the box," she commented, "It's around 5 so everyone's heading home- The chance of any HPD officer rushing over there and catching him is very slim."

Chin felt his phone buzz in his pocket, which made him grimace in annoyance. He pulled it out and saw that it was the Governor. "I have to take this," he told Kono and Steve, "In the meantime, Kono, cut that trace area down. Steve, you work with HPD over the phone- the sergeant said he already sent a few men down to Aleaka Street, which runs down the middle of the box, to start a search. Get Danny to help when he's finished with the protective detail."

"Got it," Steve replied with a nod. Chin took off towards his office and Kono sprinted over to her office to get in contact with CSU. Danny was now leaning against the computer, scribbling down a list of names and locations from the protective detail. When he finished, Danny pocketed his phone and let out a large, frustrated sigh.

"How's Rachel and Grace?" Steve hesitantly asked. He wasn't sure if his partner was in any kind of a talking mood, especially now with a threat against Rachel and Grace.

Steve was relieved when Danny answered, "Fine. Step Stan has some good use in him- he sent money for tickets to get Rachel, Grace, his son, Malia, and Joe off the island."

Steve smiled, suddenly remembering how stubborn his old superior could be. Danny seemed to read his mind and added, "Yes, Joe too. That was a fun phone call in trying to convince him to go. Is stubbornness a trait for being a SEAL?"

_At least Danny's humor is back. _Steve shrugged, "Probably."

Danny snorted before scanning the room for the team's leader. "Whoa, where did Chin go?"

Steve pointed to Chin's office, where they could see the leader pacing back and forth while on the phone. "He's talking with the governor. I hope he'll do better with Dennings than I did."

"You did fine," Danny muttered. He spotted Kono leaving her office and walking over to them. When she was close, the youngest member slowed her pace and glanced between Steve and Danny. "You two ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, everyone's ok and should be off the island within half hour," Danny said. "Iwas not paying attention to anything during the phone call. What I miss?"

"CSU & HPD just got something good for us. The officers that were sent out towards Aleaka Street ran into a few eyewitnesses who claimed that they saw a well-dressed Hawaiian man stay on a pay phone about the length of the phone call to Steve's phone. Eyewitnesses also say that the man got in a black SUV that went down Aleaka Street. CSU is checking CCTV to see if they can follow the SUV. My best guess is that he's towards Pali Highway."

"Wait, doesn't Pali Highway head north?" Danny asked. He clicked the map application on the table top computer. From what the team could see, the small highway ran from Honolulu through the mountains and towards the northeastern part of the island.

Steve narrowed his eyes and leaned against the computer. "Where the hell is he going?"

Danny ran his finger over the highway, starting from Honolulu. He traced up to the mountains where the highway split off into two, one continuing on to Kailua and the other towards Kaneohe and Kahaluu.

"Son of a bitch…" the detective muttered in disbelief, "I think Wo Fat's heading to Kahaluu. Do we know where our friendly neighborhood arms dealer is?"

"Nope, Loli Haluu hasn't showed up on any radar yet. But if he and Wo-Fat are working together, they might be meeting up in Kahaluu," Kono replied, "So if we- wait a minute, I remember reading about Haluu having some contacts in Kaneohe. Maybe Wo Fat is meeting him there instead?"

"Only one way to find out," Steve stated. He pointed to Kahaluu and Kaneohe on the screen, "I think we need to split up." He added when he remembered he wasn't the leader anymore, "If it's alright with Chin."

"It depends. What are you thinking?" Chin asked, suddenly appearing by Kono's side. He pocketed his cell phone and looked directly at Steve. The ex-SEAL swallowed nervously before explaining, "Two of us will go to one place and two the other. Unless we're missing something, both Wo Fat and Haluu have to be at one of those two areas."

"Ok. You and Kono can go to Kaneohe," Chin directed, "And Danny and I-"

"Chin, if it's alright with you, I'd like to go with Danny," Steve requested. He looked over to his partner, who was looking right back, confused. Steve took a second and prayed for a _yes_; if things went bad at either of the two places, Steve didn't want to die on bad terms with Danny.

The blonde detective narrowed his eyes at Steve. Before Chin could say anything, Danny said quietly, "I'll work with him."

Chin looked between the two partners and sighed. "Ok- you two head to Kahaluu. No explosions or any of the sorts, Steve. Good luck."


	13. Chapter 13

**Pali Highway- 10 miles from Kahaluu**

Most of the drive from HQ to Kahaluu had been extremely quiet for Danny and Steve, even though they sped down the highway with not only their sirens blaring, but with an HPD car following them and Kono and Chin as well.

With his Kevlar vest in his lap, Steve took a moment to glance out the window. The skies were getting dark a little early for 5 in the evening, having Steve predict a night of storms ahead for the island. The SEAL glanced back over to his partner, who was driving with one hand on the wheel.

"Danny?" Steve called out.

A short pause followed. Danny finally replied, "Yeah?"

"I know you're probably sick of hearing this, but I'm sorry. So very truly sorry. I promise that the stupid stuff is over." Steve waited a few seconds for a response before glancing back to his own window.

"Matt's dead," Danny said, "Son of a bitch….you and him….Kaikua`anas…. This is why I am happy that Grace is an only child and a girl."

Steve let out a chuckle. His partner, the same man who had sworn to forever hate Hawaii, had just used the Hawaiian term for _brother_.

"You going Hawaiian on me, Danno?" Steve joked.

Danny rolled his eyes. "No, I'm still not a fan of this god forsaken rock. Since we're now talking about this, I'm going to talk and pour out my feelings for the next minute or so WITHOUT a word from you. Got it?"

"Yeah. Go ahead."

Danny inhaled deeply and began, "First thing first- although I may not admit to it or will ever do so in the future, I don't mind the little incredibly stupid stuff. It makes the job adventurous."

Steve raised an eyebrow while grinning. "Adventurous?"

"What did I just say?"

"Sorry."

"You have treaded oh so close to the my true breaking point many times, but when you took off in MY car with seven cars filled with gun toting maniacs chasing after you, you finally went over it. And the reason I am so pissed is because of one simple thing- you're my brother. You are my best friend, who I consider to be a brother and is one of the few good things on this island. You, Kono, Chin, and Grace are all I have here."

Steve slowly nodded his head in understanding. Danny inhaled deeply again with his eyes still locked on the road. The detective's voice was calm and controlled. "Both of you- you and Matt- acted stupid beyond belief and could have died! Did you even think about that?"

No answer.

Danny rolled his eyes. "You may talk, Captain America."

Steve replied softly, "I did think about it. Believe it or not, I always think about what my actions are every time I do something stupid. Every time, I hope you guys can forgive me if something were to happen to me. And with this past week, I promise that I'll be more careful from now on."

"That's all I ask. Just tone it down to normal people crazy. You know, not sleep with an assault rifle and go swimming with sharks on the weekends crazy." Danny took a quick glance over to Steve's vest which had a grenade clinging from the pocket. The detective added in a question, "Do you have some secret super stash of grenades in your house somewhere?"

Steve slipped on his vest while watching Kono and Chin and the HPD car take the turn to head to Kaneohe. "Yeah, Danno. I produce them in my sleep."

Danny snorted. "Don't even try to put that in sarcasm, McGarrett. For all I know, it could be true."

**Kahaluu- Loli Haluu's property**

Danny parked the truck on the side of the trail and cautiously slid out the driver's side. A few meters away stood the spot where the arms dealer's home once stood. The perimeter was blocked off by police tape. Since the fire had burned the house to the ground, the only thing left on the property were foundation blocks sitting in the middle of an empty field.

With his gun drawn, the detective walked around the hood to find his partner leaning against one crutch and holding onto a small, silver thermal night goggles.

"Those look new," Danny commented with a smirk, "Did you buy it off of _SEALs Sky mall_?"

"Nope. I don't think you want to know where I got them," Steve said casually as he scanned the field with his goggles for any heat sources. After a minute, he placed them onto the hood of the car. "No one's here. It's too dark for us to check the woods safely."

"Damn it. I'll call Chin and Kono and let them know." Danny dialed Chin's number and raised the phone to his ear. The phone didn't even ring once before going straight to voicemail. He tried again and got voicemail again. He looked over to Steve, who was trying Kono's number in the meanwhile.

"Come on, come on…." Danny muttered after dialing Chin's number for the fourth time. When it failed, he growled, "Their phones better be dead!"

"I'll call Officer Anton. He's in the HPD car that's with them," Steve said. Danny jumped into the front seat and started the truck.

"Call on the way!" Danny exclaimed. Steve held up a hand and dialed the officer's number.

"Wait…..wait…" he gasped. After four rings, Steve pulled himself into the passenger seat and said, "No answer. Drive! I'll call Catherine to see if she can get a GPS signal."

**Kaneohe- 35 minutes later**

"Ok, thanks Cath," Steve said before pocketing his cell phone. He turned to Danny, who was driving the truck towards the exit to Kaneohe. "She traced them to about ¼ of a mile from the exit ramp. Did Kono tell you of any addresses that Haluu's contacts might have?"

"No. Whoa," Danny looked upward at the sound of a boom, "Please don't tell me that that was lightening." Another crack of lightening lit up the sky before a sudden downpour of hail and rain.

"This is just bloody perfect," the detective growled. He pulled into the exit and soon turned onto a one way road. The rain was coming down so hard that Steve almost missed the point where Catherine had said Kono and Chin would be.

"Slow down, Danny," Steve called out. Danny slowed down at the sight of an HPD police car and a red sedan sitting on the side of the road. The HPD car sat behind the sedan and had the driver's seat door open. Danny parked the truck and handed Steve a flashlight from the glove compartment. Both men stepped out of the truck and walked over to the cars in the pouring rain.

Steve shined the light on the front seat of the police car. He winced at the sight of blood splatter on the head rest. He looked over the roof of the car and exchanged a nervous look with Danny. Both men looked over to where the red sedan sat. Danny sprinted over and looked inside before cursing, "Damn it!"

Steve hobbled over to the sedan and yelled, "Blood?"

"No, there's nothing in here at all. No guns, no clothes- noth- crap, I found their phones." Danny picked up the pieces of Kono and Chin's shattered phones from off the pavement. Steve grimaced and turned towards the woods, shining his flashlight over the patch of wood and wet leaves in front of him. He spotted a footprint of what he assumed to be a women's boot.

"Danno," Steve said as he pointed his flashlight into the woods, "I think they were attacked….and Kono and Chin ran for it."


	14. Chapter 14

"In the woods? Are you telling me that they ran out into the middle of the woods in this weather?" Danny exclaimed. Steve flashed his light on the shattered window on the passenger side of the police car. He quickly glanced between the window and the woods for a moment before saying, "If someone attacked them or their backup, both Kono and Chin would try to find somewhere to hide, in this case- the woods. It's the smartest thing to do if your enemy is about….. a couple hundred meters away and up high- a second story building by my guess."

"Ok, Super Sniper," Danny stepped around Steve and took a step into the woods. He sunk a few feet in the wet mud before the detective spotted the faint footprint of a woman's boot. "Kono was wearing boots, which works work your running into the woods theory. Here's my second question- I'm assuming both HPD officers are dead so where are the bodies? And where are we going to even start to look for Kono and Chin?"

Steve looked up towards the sky where the rain was still coming down hard. Even with flashlights and guns, it would be stupid to try and walk into the woods during a storm like this. However, Kono and Chin were in there and doing stupid things was McGarett's middle name.

"Only one way to know for sure," Steve said. The SEAL limped over to his truck and pulled out a small black bag from underneath the driver's seat. He walked backed over to where Danny was standing while eyeing the SEAL suspiciously before sitting down on the ground. Steve opened the bag and pulled out a wad of old shirts, duct tape, and a shoe insole.

"Do I want to know?" Danny asked exhaustedly. Steve taped the insole to the bottom of his cast. He looked up to Danny and smiled, "I don't think you do."

Danny quickly glanced over the supplies before pretending to shake off a bad chill. He walked to the truck and called back to Steve, " I'll go get some search and rescue supplies, Rambo."

The detective disappeared into the back of the truck. Not even a minute later, Danny yelled at the top of his lungs, "McGarrett!"

Steve didn't get a chance to blink before Danny reappeared at his side with two ponchos and two umbrellas.

" Really? You had umbrellas and rain panchos the entire time?"

"Forgot about it in the spur of the moment," Steve answered. He wrapped his last shirt around his cast and ran a piece of tape around his foot. His cast looked silly, but it felt comfortable enough for him to move around on it without crutches. Danny's reaction to Steve's 'creation' was as expected.

"He-he-he, you're going as Robo-Foot?" Danny laughed. Steve rolled his eyes and explained , "I gave my cast a little more support so I can move a whole lot faster. Think of it as a makeshift boot."

Danny smirked before slipping on the poncho. He knew that it wouldn't make a difference since he was already soaked to the bone. He helped his partner onto his feet before facing the woods.

"You know the woods better than anyone so you lead," Danny stated. Steve inhaled deeply while ducking a large tree branch. With his partner manning the flashlight and the gun, both men slowly made their way into the forest.

Twenty minutes later, Steve and Danny still hadn't found Kono and Chin. The rain was settling down and yet it made no difference. The mud and darkness were slowing the two men down.

"How far do you think they got?" Danny asked. He stopped in his tracks and looked around. " We should have seen them by now."

"I don't know, Danny. I really don't-" Steve quieted at the sound of crunching coming from the trees. He played it off to be from some sort of animal, but quickly changed his mind when the sound came again, this time much louder.

_Crunch._

Steve put a finger to his lips at the sound now only a few meters in front of them. Danny aimed his gun in that direction and called out, "Five 0! Reveal yourself!"

A long pause passed before both men saw two figures appear from behind a tree.

"Kono? Chin?" Steve yelled out. The youngest member held up a hand and briskly walked over to them. Chin followed her from behind, using his hand to wipe the rain from his face.

Danny exclaimed at the sight of the two, "What the hell are you two doing out here?"

"A couple of shooters attacked us on the road. The officers didn't make it," Kono replied while shivering. Steve saw that there was blooding dripping from her sleeve. He put a hand over a rip near her shoulder and asked, " But still- why are you two out here?"

"A very long story that's best told in drier conditions ," Chin said. The man opened his mouth to say more, but only raised an eyebrow at the sight of Steve's cast.

"Steve," Kono gasped, "What did you do?"

"Don't ask," Danny snorted. "Let's get the hell out of this rain before this gets any worse."

**Ma Wiki La Inn- Kaneohe**

"Is there are particular reason we're staying at _this _hotel of all places?" Kono asked aloud as she stepped into the double room that connected with another. It had taken them an hour to get back to the main road where they had met up with Kaneohe Police. Thirty minutes of explanations later, the team had been put up at the very nice Ma Wiki La Inn for the night because of the still on- going storms.

"Kaneohe PD offered it to us and how could we say no?" Danny exclaimed. He jumped onto one of the double beds and admired the 45" flat screen TV. "Do you think they have digital?"

Steve irritably sighed at Danny's comment. "Ah- no, Danny. Do you not remember Wo Fat and his plan to bring all types of hell on us?"

The detective scowled and slowly got off the bed. "All I wanted was five minutes of no chaos where I could sit and scan a few channels, McGarrett."

Steve crossed his arms. " That's what you do to relax? Scan the channels? Although, I am talking to the man who can't sleep without TV…."

"Again, I didn't go to _Sleeping in Absolute Zero Silence 101_, McSEAL-"

Chin looked between the two before cutting them off, "Since you two are back to the usual arguing, I can assume that you two all are better now?"

" Yes and if I get driving custody of my Camaro again, our partnership will be solid again," Danny replied with a smirk.

"Alright, let's focus," Steve said. " Kono, Chin, what happened out there? We thought you two were dead for a minute."

Kono sat down on the edge of the bed and put her hair in a ponytail. She looked over to Chin, who was leaning against the hotel door.

"Well, we were driving," the youngest member began, " and then heard two shots- sniper shots, actually, hit the driver's window of the cop car. The car swerved and hit us in the rear before stopping. Another two shots rang out and Chin and I jumped out and hid behind my car. Chin told me to run into the woods to hide. Damn, we didn't even get a chance to check if the officers were even alive."

"We found your phones on the side of the road damaged. Did you two hear anyone come after you guys?"

" Probably. We kept running until the thunder stopped. We had left our phones because when we left the car, Chin's was plugged in to be the GPS and mine was charging," Kono finished, "What do you guys think?"

"I'd say that' it's one of Haluu's associates ordering a hit on us," Danny said. The man stood up and started pacing between the window and where Kono was sitting. "I would suggest busting down the door of anyone who knows Haluu and demanding an answer, but do we know even where to start?"

Kono smiled. "No, but I think I know who might."


	15. Chapter 15

"Hello, my island princess. How can I be of service?"

Kono smiled at Kamekono's overly cheerful greeting. She stood in the living room with her phone pressed against her cheek while rubbing a towel over her hair. It was still raining hard outside and Chin, Steve, and Danny were cleaning themselves up in the bedroom.

"It's good to hear that you're riding out the storm well," Kono said. She sat down on a couch as Kamekono replied, "I'm an Islander. This storm is nothing…..except a detriment to my thriving shrimp business. Now, I know that you are calling me to use skills of my less law abiding citizen days, which will cost you."

"What happened to being your island princess?"

"Even royalty has to pay up. Tell me what you need and I'll name my price."

Kono quickly mulled over her options. The worst case scenario was that Kamekono would require her and the team to test out a new product. The last time they had to, Steve had to give everyone two days off to recover from uneasy stomachs, or as Kamekono called them- weak stomachs.

Reluctantly, Kono said, "I need information about any associates Loli Haluu may have in the Kaneohe area."

"Ahhh, that name sounds so familiar." Kamekono let out a loud sigh, no doubt to toy with Kono. The young cop rolled her eyes and added, "Whatever you want, consider it done."

Kamekono's tone instantly changed. "Rick Akua. He lives right of the shore and is Haluu's go- to man. I'll text you the address and expect you, McGarrett, Williams and little Williams, and Chin Ho at my truck tomorrow morning to tryout my new roast beef shrimp concoction. I have a good feeling about this one."

Kono wrinkled her nose. "Sounds….um, delicious. You're the best."

"I know and it's always good to hear that you know it too."

"Bye, Kamekono. " Kono hung up and walked into the bedroom. Steve was sitting on the bed while Chin was wrapping cloth around the man's leg cast. Danny was wiping a mud stain from his shirt while munching on a granola bar.

"Did he give you anything?" Steve asked when Kono sat down on the edge of the bed.

"According to Kamekono, one of Haluu's buddies named Rick Akua lives four blocks from here and is Haluu's go- to guy for getting in contact with him and possibly Wo-Fat."

"And with the storm, Akua might be stranded at his house! Let's go," Steve exclaimed as he swung a leg off of the bed. Danny was by his side in seconds and put Steve's leg back on the bed.

"We are _not _going out into the middle of a super Hawaiian hurricane to go shoot it out with Akua!  
Danny yelled. "Some of us can't hold their breaths for a million minutes if water comes crashing through from the beach! You did see how close we were-"

"Danno-"

"Even if we take the storm out of the equation; some of us haven't slept for over 36 hours now!" Danny dropped his arms to his side and added in a quieter voice, "Fortunately, you aren't in charge right now, my undoubtedly insane friend."

Danny turned to Chin, expecting to hear him agree, but instead heard, "I'm sorry, Danny, but I have to agree with Steve on this. We have one shot to catch someone high up who can give us insight into where Haluu and Wo-Fat are and the actual identity of Shelburne. "

"And we can die while doing it," Danny snapped, "This won't be an easy walk in and grab the bad guy thing. I don't think you understand how much of a danger magnet Captain America here is. I am begging you- we cannot go out in this storm!"

_Knock, Knock. _All four team members looked up at the sound of knocking on the front door. Chin un-holstered his weapon and slowly opened the door. A Kaneohe police officer was standing at the door with two large zip lock bags.

"Lieutenant Kelly?" the officer asked. Chin re-holstered his weapon and replied, "That's me."

"We found a man trying to start his car on Route 11," the officer stated, "We tried to assist him and in the middle of that, we found a stack of photos and a sniper rifle in the backseat. He had no license on him and with half the island without power, we can't identify him."

Chin held out his hand towards the officer, who handed over the zip lock bags. He grabbed the crime scene gloves he always kept in his back pocket and opened the bag. Chin looked at the first photo and gasped.

"What is it?" Steve called out. He limped over to Chin's side. The new leader of the team suddenly snapped out of his daze and pulled the bags out of reach from Steve. Chin held up a hand to Steve and pleaded, "Back up, man. You need to prepare yourself for what's in these photos."

"Chin, give them to me!" Steve exclaimed. Reluctantly, Chin handed over the bags. Steve pulled out the first photo and exclaimed, "Mary?!"

The photo was of his younger sister, Mary, in New York City meeting with Steve over lunch. An extradition and trial had required Steve to follow a six state serial killer back to New York to make sure the process went through.

"How does he…." Steve muttered, "Why would he- I went into New York three months ago!" The memory of the phone call between him and Wo Fat echoed through his mind-

_You back down and let me finish off Shelburne or everything you stand for and love dearly, including the precious little Grace Williams, will be gone in a blink of an eye._

Which included his sister.


	16. Chapter 16

"Where is he?" Steve roared at the Kaneohe officer. The cop was taken back for a moment before stammering, "Our-our station is in a blackout so we have him down stairs-"

Steve pushed past the officer and starting limping down the hallway towards the elevator. Danny ran up to his side and asked, "What the hell do you plan on doing?"

"Simple, he has pictures of my sister. I ask him questions and if he doesn't answer, I break his fingers," Steve replied in a matter of fact tone. Danny ran up in front of Steve and started walking backwards.

"Slow down, let's think about this for a second," Danny said. He made it to the elevator doors and with crossed arms and a _try and cross me, I dare you_ look on his face, Danny blocked off the elevator and Steve's only way off of the floor.

"Danny, move! This guy has pictures of my sister!" Steve yelled.

Danny didn't budge. "I know and I'm pissed too, but we need to take this-"

"Why the hell don't you have my back, partner?" Steve growled. He was standing closer to Danny now, who despite the height difference between the irate 6'1" Navy SEAL and the 5'5 " unusually rational detective, still stood his ground.

"I have your back, Steven," Danny replied, "and with that comes stopping you before you do something regrettable. If you weren't paying attention earlier, I told you that you are my ohana and as the much more rational one in our relationship, I'm instituting the Plan A ½ rule. With this rule, we are going to _think_ for at least a good two minutes before you do something that's going to involve you going all Guantanamo style on whoever's in custody downstairs. So we're going to _look_ at the photos and see if we can get something, talk to the cops, and have Chin or Kono interview our mystery man. I don't want you to kill that man…..yet."

Steve sighed and dropped his shoulders. Once again, his partner was right. "What am I going to do without you, Danno?"

Danny smirked. "Probably do exactly what I tell you not to do on a daily basis." Both men started walking back to the hotel room. They caught up with Kono and Chin, who were now standing in the hallway.

"You alright, brah?" Chin asked. Steve nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Danny suggested that he and I analyze the photos and anything else our mystery man had in his car while you and Kono interview him. Sound good?"

Chin nodded. "Yeah- we'll meet up here in an hour unless something comes up."

Ten minutes later, Danny and Steve were sitting on both beds and looking over each photo in the hotel room. There was much more photos than both men had thought- Danny had a pile of forty pictures in front of him, filled of Steve on different parts of the island with his team mates, Kamekono, and even the Governor, who Steve had met with in Waikiki the previous month.

"This guy's been on you for a while and these look professional," Danny commented, "Unless this guy is a professional camera stalker, he might have an accomplice."

"Mmmhmmm…"

Danny looked up to see Steve staring at picture in his hand. The SEAL's eyes were filled with shocked, which made Danny nervous.

"What is it?" Danny called out to Steve. His partner turned over the photo before handing it over to Danny. The detective's eyes widened at the content of the photo. It was of Steve's father, time stamped days before the man was killed.

"Danno, why the hell would this guy be carrying around a photo of my father two years after he died?" Steve asked in disbelief.

Downstairs, Kono and Chin stood in the hotel's lounge across from their suspect. Chin identified the man to be local and in his mid-twenties. The scars on their suspect's cheeks singled him out to be either a gang member or scars from military work. Chin sat down next to the man, who was handcuffed to a table leg and asked, "You were the moron that tried to take us out earlier, aren't you?"

"Two out of four 'aint bad, cop," the suspect sneered. "At least I got those punk ass cops."

Chin suddenly grabbed the suspect's neck and yelled, "Those were good, honest men!"

Kono jumped in quickly and pulled her cousin back to the wall. Chin walked down to the other end of the room, cursing under his breath and run his hands through his hair. In the meantime, Kono walked over to the small white evidence box that sat at the end of the table and pulled out the large zip lock bag that contained the tear down rifle that the suspect had been found with.

She placed the rifle in front of the suspect and tapped her finger twice on the rifle. "We have you on two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. That's what- at least 25 to life? Maybe more if you're also working for Wo-Fat. By the way, he's known for not leaving out loose ends."

The suspect furrowed his brow in confusion. Chin walked over to the suspect's side, leaned close, and whispered, "The last few men we talked to with connections to Wo-Fat ended up barbequed or scattered across the Pacific as fish-bait."

The suspect shifted in the chair, uneasy at the prospects of dealing with Wo-Fat. The man dropped his shoulders and grumbled, "Fine. You know about the shooting- what else do you want from me?"

"The photos that were in your car trunk of Commander Steve McGarrett's family and friends- explain why you have them and what you were planning to do with them," Kono demanded.

The suspect replied unhappily, "I was supposed to monitor everyone that has connections to McGarrett. His sister was being watched for a while in New York- I really don't know what happened with her. I was told that as soon as I got a call from Wo- Fat, I had permission to take each of them out. The both of you would have been dead if it wasn't for the storm."

"Why does Wo-Fat want those people monitored?" Chin asked.

The suspect smirked. "For Hawaii's best, you like to ask a lot of stupid questions."

"Fine," Kono said, "Give us a location on where Wo-Fat and Haluu are. We know they're looking for Shelburne."

"Like I'd be stupid enough to tell you-"

"We can protect you if that's your concern. You can walk away from all of this if you just tell us where your boss and Wo-Fat are."

The suspect crossed his arms and glared both Kono and Chin. After a minute, Chin said, "Alright, you're on your own. When we do run into any of Haluu's associates, we'll tell them that you caved-"

"Fine!" the suspect yelled. He pulled out a scrap of paper from his pocket and pushed it across the table towards Kono and Chin. Kono read the paper and looked up at Chin is disbelief.

"Chin, this is Steve's home address!" she exclaimed.


	17. Chapter 17

"Ok…ok…how do we do this?" Kono asked nervously. Chin pointed to the door and stated, "We need to tell Steve. Why are you acting weird?"

"Chin, it's raining more than cats and dogs outside. Of we just up and tell Steve, there's no doubt that he'll go running into the storm and then we'll have to go after him, and then we might get killed by a falling tree or something!" Kono exclaimed.

Her cousin smirked at her tone. "You sound like Danny. Ummm, here's what we'll do."

Chin waved over the Kaneohe officer that was standing guard at the door. The officer jogged over and saluted both Kono and Chin. Kono raised an eyebrow at the man's behavior while Chin said, "I need you to keep a tight eye on him. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the officer enthusiastically answered. He walked over to the suspect and stood tall and alert with a hand on his weapon. Kono fought down the urge to laugh.

"Cuz, we're going to tell McGarrett by telling him that his house is where Wo-Fat is most likely to be, but also that there's no way in hell we can drive across the island in this weather," Chin said.

Kono smirked. "You really think that's going to stop him?"

"Let's pray that it does."

"Steve?"

No answer.

"Steven?"

No answer.

Danny looked up from the pile of photos in his lap and over to Steve, who was quietly pacing the room with the picture of his father in his hands. The SEAL hadn't heard his name at all- all he wanted to know was why one of Haluu's men, a low level one at that, was carrying around a picture of his father. Steve had acquired what he thought was all the information that his father had on Shelburne. As he wracked his brain for anything he could have missed, Steve heard a _whoosh_ sound coming his way and caught the pillow that had been flying towards him.

"So you're ignoring me now?" Danny exclaimed, "And how the hell did you even know that the pillow was coming?"

"I just did," Steve muttered. He sat down on the couch and rubbed his chin. "Why my dad?"

"There might be something your dad knew that we haven't found out yet," Danny suggested.

"Like what?" Steve snapped a little harsher than he had intended. He apologized quickly after, "Sorry. What do you mean?"

"Maybe your dad already knew Shelburne, but just hadn't know it yet. It explains why he was being followed- maybe Wo-Fat thought he'd cross paths with Shelburne on the island."

"But Shelburne hasn't been on the island until now. Plus, it's useless to carry around a photo of someone who's been dead for 2 years." Steve shook his head in disbelief, "None of this makes any sense."

"It usually never does," Chin said, suddenly appearing with Kono at the doorway. Kono walked in the room and leaned back against the wall.

"That was quick! What did our suspect say?" Danny asked.

Kono walked over towards Steve, holding up her hands in caution. "We got something, but it isn't good."

Steve stood up. "What is it?"

Kono hesitated and exchanged a quick look with her cousin. The delay was driving Steve and Danny crazy.

"What is it?" Steve anxiously repeated.

Kono sighed and finally blurted out, "Both Haluu and Wo-Fat are heading to your house."

"What?!" Steve exclaimed, "And you waited until now to tell me this?" The ex- SEAL marched over to the dresser and began to grab his things, which included his keys and his pistol.

Chin finally stepped in to the conversation. "We found out no more than five minutes ago, but we cannot and will not be going out into the storm! And that's an order!"

"He is at my house, Chin. _My house. _You can't tell me that I have to sit here while Wo-Fat and Haluu go through my house!" Steve yelled. He pushed past Chin and Kono before finding himself face-to-face with his partner at the doorway.

"Don't you even dare," Danny growled.

"Move, Danny. I'm going," Steve snapped back.

"McGarrett-"

"They're bringing the fight to my doorsteps!"

Danny didn't budge or say a word. Steve tried to take a step around Danny, but the detective scooted to the right and blocked Steve from the doorway.

"Danny, move!" Steve yelled.

Danny finally spoke up, "Not on your life, McSEAL. If we go out there in hurricane conditions, we'll get probably get washed off the road or crushed by a mudslide before we can even make it halfway across the island! I'm not even from this God forsaken place and I know not to mess with Mother Nature! You obviously missed the message-"

Steve now stood inches away from Danny. In a calmer voice, Steve said, "If they're in my house, they could find all the evidence that we have on Shelburne and find him before we do. I can't have that happen so Danny, Chin, Kono - I am heading to my house, one way or another."

Danny shook his head in disbelief at his partner's behavior. In his mind, he believed that Steve McGarrett had officially gone past the irrational crazy stage and into his usual deadly crazy stage.

"Can you please _please_ not to do this?" Danny pleaded, "Wait out until this storm passes- I mean come on! I don't want to find you floating in the ocean or buried under six feet of mud! Please, Steve, don't do this."

Steve put his hands on his hips and frowned at Danny. Like clockwork, Danny read his partner's body language and said, "You say you understand what ohana means, but I don't think you do," Danny stepped aside and held out a hand, "Just go."

Steve glanced back to Kono and Chin, who were both giving him disappointed looks. He knew that Danny was right- he could be injured or killed driving through one of the most destructive storms he had seen since returning to Hawaii two years ago. His gut was telling him to stay, but the mental of image of his nemesis walking through his living room, his bedroom, and even searching through his belongings solidified his decision.

"I'm so sorry," Steve said before sprinting out the door.


	18. Chapter 18

"We're just going to let him go?" Kono exclaimed once Steve had disappeared down the hallway. Danny didn't say a word and only stared curiously down the hallway.

"Danny?" Kono called out. The detective looked towards the window where the rain was still coming down, but not as bad as earlier. For a split second, he thought that Steve could be slowed down by having a broken right foot, but he soon remembered that his partner was Super SEAL Steven J -A-Broken-Foot-Means-Nothing McGarrett. Danny cursed under his breath and walked over to the dresser where his gun, wallet, and keys lay.

"Danny?" Kono repeated, more cautiously. Danny holstered his weapon and replied, "To answer your question, Kono, no- I'm not going to let my dumbass partner drive out there by himself."

Chin narrowed his eyes at Danny's statement. "What do you plan on doing then?" he asked.

Danny slipped on his vest. "I'm going to try and stop him from leaving. And if he's already left, I'm going to hunt that stubborn little SEAL down to his house and kick his ass. And knowing him, I have a feeling that there'll be gunfire waiting there for him and also the rest of us."

Kono sighed before grabbing her bag from behind the bed. She pulled out her vest and holstered her weapon. Chin nodded his head in disbelief before saying, "We're coming with and when we do catch up with Steve and you've finished kicking his ass, I'm next in line."

Danny smirked and replied, "Done deal. Let's go."

**McGarrett Home**

Danny sprinted up onto the porch with his gun in his right hand and his left over his eyes to block the rain. Chin covering the back of the house while Kono was checking the beach for any sign of an intruder or Steve. The team had missed stopping Steve from leaving the hotel by ten minutes, which had forced them to slowly drive back to Steve's home.

Danny counted to three before kicking down the front door and stepping into the dark house. There was an eerie silence that echoed throughout the house, adding to Danny's nerves.

The detective pulled out a flashlight and shined a light through the living room. Nothing seemed out of place, from the quilt that had always been laid across the couch to the navy blue model jet from Catherine Rollins that was placed on the television. One thing that caught Danny's attention was a trail a muddy footprints that went from the couch up to the stairs.

_This might be them, _Danny thought as he slowly crept towards the stairs. He took one step on the first stair and cringed at the stair's loud creak. Danny cursed under his breath and started to quickly follow the footprints up the stairs. Once on the second level, Danny looked both ways down the hallway before stepping into the guest bedroom. He continued over to the closet, which was lit.

"Five-0!" Danny called out. He raised his gun and aimed at the closet door, ready for anything or anyone to step out of the closet. The door slowly creaked open and a soaking wet Steve stepped out. It nearly gave Danny a heart attack.

"Crap! Ah-jeez, Super SEAL, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Danny exclaimed while putting a hand over his rapidly beating heart.

"Danny, you came," Steve said with relief, "Are Chin and Kono-"

"You didn't answer my question," Danny growled while holstering his weapon, "Why didn't you identify yourself when I called out Five-0?"

"I didn't hear -"

"Of course not! You know what- I don't want to know. Just don't say anything to me, Steve. Do you know how hard it was for the three of us to A. drive out in the middle of a storm and B. not lose our minds from thinking that an arms dealer and Wo-Fat may have already killed you?"

"Danno-"

Danny held up a hand and repeated, "Don't say a word to me. Just don't." Danny walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway where he could see Chin and Kono looking up at him from the living room.

"I found him," Danny called down. Kono smiled and laughed, "We heard you yell and kind of figured it out on our own. Where is he?"

"I'm here," Steve answered as he emerged from the bedroom. He gave a small wave to Chin and Kono and as expected, didn't receive any response from the cousins. Danny leaned against the railing and snuck a glance over to where Steve's bedroom and the bathroom were located. Where a small canvas of a Chinese proverb was hanging, Danny could see a slight tear to the wallpaper.

"Steve, you scratch up your wall?" Danny asked. Steve paused and replied, "Am I allowed to talk now?"

"Don't be a smart ass. We had to drive in the middle of a storm because of you. Now answer the question- did you make that scratch in the wall?"

Steve limped over to the canvas and placed his finger next to the tear. "I didn't do it. Hell, I didn't even know that was there."

Steve lifted the canvas off of the wall and stepped back to see that the tear wasn't as small as they had thought. The tear was a part of a large hole cut in the wallpaper. The team could see an empty box in the hole, filled with empty envelopes and a small black case.

Chin, who had quickly come up the stairs with Kono, shined his flashlight into the large box. He quickly glanced between the box and Steve and asked the question on everyone's mind, "Are you absolutely sure that you have _everything_ that your father had on Wo-Fat?"


	19. Chapter 19

"Of course I'm sure!" Steve exclaimed. He felt irritable on the looks on his teammates' faces that showed that they weren't a hundred percent convinced. "Come, on guys. I'm not lying or hiding-"

"Anything to protect us," Kono finished with her voice full of anger, "We know, Steve." She had kept her anger in check during the dangerous drive back to Steve's home perfectly fine, but now she had just reached her limit. Chin caught his cousin's tone and recommended, "Take a walk and cool off, Kono."

Kono reluctantly nodded and slowly walked down the stairs, slipping off her vest and dropping it onto the couch. Danny watched her disappear into the kitchen before returning his attention back to the empty space in the wall. He peered into the space and stated, "Looks like older McGarrett had a small box in here- is that blood?"

Danny pointed to the tiniest drop of blood on a small pipe in the wall. Chin nodded and asked Steve, "Only one way to check. Steve, where do you keep your zip lock bags and Q-tips?"

"Q-tips are in the bathroom and zip lock bags are in the kitchen," Steve answered, "I can get it-"

"Nope, I got it," Chin said. He jogged off to the bathroom, leaving Steve and Danny alone. The detective said nothing as he leaned against the railway. Steve wanted to say something, but he knew that saying anything to Danny would start up an argument that would never end.

A minute of silence passed between the two men before Chin appeared at the top of the stairs with Kono behind him and the supplies in his hands. Chin gave a zip lock bag from Kono to open before he grabbed a Q-tip and swabbed the blood. He dropped the Q tip in the zip lock bag that Kono was holding and said, "Got it. If HPD is somewhat up and running, we can see if we can get this sample ran in the lab. Let's hit HQ first before we head to HPD. I want to see how the conditions of HQ."

"Shouldn't be that bad," Danny said with a smile.

**Five-0 Headquarters**

"Seriously?!" Danny exclaimed at the sight awaiting the team when they arrived at headquarters. During the storm, lightening had struck a tree next to the palace to where it collapsed and broke a window. Now a strong breeze was blowing through the broken window, sending leaves and twigs all over HQ. Unexpectedly, there was no power in the building.

"This is…oh wow," Kono gasped as she stepped over a small tree branch by the doorway. "And there's probably no power at HPD."

"HPD probably has some kind of a generator that we can use," Chin suggested.

Danny volunteered, "I'll call them." He narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at him, "I blame you."

"How is this my fault?" Steve exclaimed. Danny shot him a dark glare before walking out into the hallway. Steve frowned and turned Kono and Chin for support, but both turned away.

"Guys, I'm sorry!" Steve yelled out.

"Just like you were last time?" Kono snapped. She turned on her heels and angrily walked into the hallway where Danny was calling HPD. Chin, on the other hand, leaned back against the flat screen and stated, "You say you're sorry. Ok then, explain why you left us in Kaneohe."

"You aren't homicidally pissed at me?"

Chin shrugged his shoulders, "I should be, but no, I'm not. I've been known to be a very patient and forgiving man, McGarrett. Talk to me."

Steve cupped his hands together. "Ok, I couldn't stand the thought of Wo Fat being in my house- my house! The thought of him walking all over where I grew up with Mary, where I learned about what happened to my mother, and even where my father died was so vile to me that I had to leave. That's it. "

"I see," Chin glanced behind Steve to see Kono and Danny standing quietly at the doorway. "You two talk to HPD?"

While Steve whirled around, completely unaware that Kono and Danny had heard their entire conversation, Danny replied, "HPD has very little power, none of which is going to lab," Danny stated. " We are in limbo again. What now?"

"We get some sleep." Chin rolled his eyes when three pairs of confused eyes fell on him. "We haven't slept in what two days now? We can't be dead tired if Wo-Fat or Haluu make any kind of move. We'll sleep here-"

"In our storm infested HQ? No way, cuz," Kono exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure that there's a congregation of bugs growing under my desk!"

"Gonna let a few bugs scare you off?"

"I can fight bad guys, but there's no way that I'm sleeping with spiders and centipedes."

Danny nodded in agreement. "I'm backing Kono up on this for two reasons. Number one- Two squirrels are resting under my desk right now and I'm not keen to sharing or snuggling with animals during a naptime, a forced one I might add. And reason number 2, I'm not sure if there's a way to make sure that SEAL-lies-a lot won't try to make a _I have to save the world on my own_ move if we're here. However, with some handcuffs, tranquilizers, superglue, and some tape-"

"Guys, I'm not going anywhere," Steve muttered in annoyance.

"You said that last time," Kono commented.

"And the time before that and so on," Danny added.

"Danny, I swear that I'm not going to go anywhere! I shouldn't have left you guys in Kaneohe because it wasn't worth losing that last bit of trust you guys have towards me, but I swear that I won't try anything stupid right now."

Chin, Kono, and Danny exchanged looks before Chin said, "Fine. We believe you."


	20. Chapter 20

**Midnight**

Steve shifted his position as he sat on the couch in his office. Under Chin's 'forced naptime' as Danny had so affectionately called it, the team was sleeping in different spots in Steve's office, the room least affected by the storm. Chin was lying against the wall behind Steve's desk, Kono was lying on blankets from the emergency items that the team kept, and Danny was sleeping in a sitting position across the doorway. Although Chin said that they had believed him on not leaving again, Steve felt like he had been lied to.

Kono had watched Steve closely after the team had agreed to take a break. While the emergency blankets were being pulled out of storage, Steve could feel the youngest team member keeping a tight eye on everything that he did. At one point, Kono had woken forty minutes after falling asleep to turn onto her side, spot Steve, and mumble, " You're still here," before falling back to sleep.

Chin had tried to act as normal as he could, but Steve had caught how the new team leader had slept where there was a clear view of the door and the couch. And for Steve's partner, it was clear that Danny didn't trust him at all, clearly shown by his choice of sleeping directly in front of the door. The detective hadn't said a word to anyone about it; he had just grabbed a blanket and sat right in front of the door.

_I think I'm going to take a walk, _Steve thought; _I need to clear my head. _He stood and tiptoed towards the door, keeping an eye on Chin and Kono for any signs of them stirring. When he made it to the door, Steve looked down at his frowning, sleeping partner. Steve raised a hand towards the door handles, but stopped when he heard,

"Don't even think about it."

Steve wasn't a man to be easily spooked, but his heart did jump at the sound of his partner's voice. Below him, the detective didn't even open an eye as he repeated, "Don't even think about it, Steven."

"I thought you were asleep, Danno-"

Danny held up a finger with his eyes still closed. "Quick thing about that statement - I had already stated that I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep knowing that there was a chance of you walking out and somehow end up hunting Wo-Fat and Haluu down in the mountains somewhere. Now once again, go to sleep, Steven, or I will use force."

Steve dropped his hand and stepped back. "Can we at least talk?"

"Nope."

"Ok," Steve replied. He walked back over to the couch and sat down. _Guess we'll have to finish this in the morning.__  
_

* * *

The next morning, Steve woke on the couch, alone in his office. He had spent most of the night just sitting on the couch and thinking. He had run through everything he knew about their case a few times before his mind drifted back to his team members and the hell he had put them through during the past 2 years. Car chases, shoot outs- hell, Danny had been shot within hours of meeting Steve. There was way too many incidents where little Gracie could have lost his father and Kono and Chin's family could have lost the cousins.

Too many.

Steve glanced over to the hallway where he could see Chin, Kono, and Danny talking amongst themselves. Steve would have taken this as normal behavior, but his suspicion became high at the sight of two HPD officers at the HQ doorway. He pulled himself off the couch and limped towards his team members.

"Hey, why is HPD here?" Steve asked. Danny inhaled deeply and gave what Steve like to call _I have some bad news_ face.

"Did something happen?" Steve added. The two officers standing by the door suddenly approached the group while Chin stated, "We need to have a talk."

"Ok. What's up?" Steve stole a glance over to the HPD officers.

"This morning, "Chin stated, "the team and I were talking about your actions as of late. We all realized that we as a group haven't properly dealt with you constantly doing whatever you want, regardless of how it affects others. I know that last night I said that we were all ok, but that was lie. I think I was just trying to keep the peace more so than anything else."

Steve felt like he was very small and that he was about to be disciplined like a child. "So what are you saying?"

Chin inhaled deeply to ready himself. "You're indefinitely suspended for your actions in Kaneohe from the storm and when we tried to take down Haluu. Also because we can't solve this case and keep an eye on you, you are also being put in HPD custody. These two officers are going to take you to the airport to get you off the island-"

"What?!" Steve yelled in shock, "I'm not leaving!"

"This isn't up for discussion. Did you know that none of us slept last night because we were all worried that you'd sneak out?"

Steve nodded, which made Danny angry. The detective narrowed his eyes at Steve as he growled, "Quick question- so you do actually know that you're freaking us out every time you decide to strap yourself to a speeding care or jump off of buildings that you shouldn't be jumping off of?"

Steve kept his mouth shut, not wanting to instigate a fight. Danny nodded his head in disbelief before pulling a small seashell keychain that had a quote written on it from his pocket.

"Take it," Danny stated, "Take it and think about this quote. Grace made this and gave it to me from birthday. I know it's childish, but with you, McGarrett, we need to start from childish with you. It's from Grace's favorite movie, Lilo and Stitch."

Steve peered down at the keychain and read, "Ohana- ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten."

Danny nodded and said, "Remember that while you're away. Officer Palakiko, Officer Mahelona, Commander McGarrett is ready to leave."

Steve swallowed hard and said, "I'm sorry," before turning and leaving with the officers.


	21. Chapter 21

**Makani Kai Helicopter Company, Honolulu**

"So Commander McGarrett," Officer Palakiko said as he drove a HPD police car onto the helicopter airfield, "We'll be flying you onto Molokaʻi. It's the closest island which can help us if we need to get you back here quickly. On Moloha'i, we'll take you to safe house up in the jungle areas. No worries, there'll be cable and Wi-Fi up there. "

Officer Mahelona laughed at his partner's mention of cable and Wi-Fi. He paused to listen for any comment or chuckle from Steve, but heard nothing. The SEAL was sitting in the backseat with his leg extended across the backseat and his eyes glued on the window.

Officer Mahelona called out, "Commander McGarret?"

Steve slowly turned his head towards the front of the car and looked at Mahelona through the rear view mirror. "I heard you," he replied faintly.

"Is everything ok, Commander?" Officer Palakiko asked. He stopped the car near a closed hanger that was ¼ of a mile away from the helicopter that Steve would fly out on.

Steve nodded his head. "I'm fine." He glanced down to the keychain that rested in his hand. Steve hadn't been able to let it go since leaving Five-0 HQ twenty minutes ago. The word _Ohana_ seemed to glow brightly to Steve like it was trying to repeatedly remind him of all the incidents of where his actions could have cost his team their lives.

_I need to talk to someone about this. I feel like hell- wait, I could call Catherine,_ Steve thought excitedly at the thought of his girlfriend, as Danny had defined her. Catherine Rollins was stationed for a few months at Camp Pendleton to help evaluate that status of the four aircraft cruisers currently docked in California.

"Lieutenant Rollins," Catherine replied when she answered her phone. "Is this Mr. Super Navy SEAL needing some kind of super favor?"

"Hey, Cath," Steve said, his voice quieter than normal. "No favors this time. I-um- just wanted to hear the sound of your voice."

On the other end, Catherine asked, "Something happened, didn't it? You sound like you've had a hell of a day. Talk to me."

Steve rubbed his forehead. "I screwed up big time, Catherine, and I don't know if I can fix it."

There was a pause on the other line before Catherine spoke again. "You're scaring me, Steve. Did someone die? Is Danny, Chin, and Kono ok?"

"Yeah, they're fine. The thing is I broke their trust, especially Danny's, and I don't think I can ever get it back."

Catherine let out a large sigh. "What did you do?"

Steve held up the keychain to his eye level, mentally rereading the quote on the keychain. "Within the last week, I blew up a house, took down seven drug dealers, destroyed Danny's Camaro and broke Danny and Kono's arm indirectly in Kaneohe in one day. After promising to be calmer and less insane, I drove out in the middle of a dangerous storm after they told me to stay and because of that, the team had to follow me through the brunt of the storm to see if I was ok. "

"Steven….."

"I was removed from lead position after the incident in Kaneohe and now I'm indefinitely suspended. Chin ordered that I get sent of the island for my own protection-"

Catherine cut him off. "Ok, let me stop you right there. First, I'm buying a leash for Danny to use on you during cases," Cath joked. Her tone suddenly became serious, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know," Steve said sadly, "I think I want to catch these guys without Chin, Kono, and Danny not getting hurt at all. I have the least to lose."

"You don't have the least to lose, Steve. You have me, your sister and the team," Catherine states, "It looks like you need to tell the team how you truly feel and re-evaluate a few things in your life. If you even think that you've already lost them, you might as well turn in your badge. All is not lost, ok? I got to go- the USS Hyman is about to rev its horns and it's going to get really loud any second. Bye."

"Thanks, Cath. Talk to you later," Steve said before hanging up and placing it in his cargo pants pocket. Steve took another look at the keychain before he heard, "You should call them," from Officer Palakikio.

Steve smiled and said, "Thanks for the advice, but I think I'm going to need more than a phone call to earn the trust of my team again."

Officer Mahelona started driving again towards the helicopter. "Well, I'm sorry is always a great place to start." They continued along for a minute before Steve could see two black Cruisers parked in front of the helicopter. There were no other police cars present, something very unusual for a protective custody trade off.

"Were we expecting company?" Steve asked from the back seat. Officer Mahelona slowed the car to a complete stuff, replying, "No, sir. Your evacuation was classified and just decided."

"Then turn around- I've been compromised," Steve commanded. He placed his hand on the shoulder of Officer Palakikio. "This could get be Wo-Fat and Haluu's men. Take me back to palace immediately."

Officer Mahelona looked back to Steve. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, do it right now." Steve slid his leg off the backseat while keeping an eye on the cruisers. Officer Palakikio did a quick U-turn and started driving quickly back to the airfield entrance. Steve looked back just in time to see the Cruisers take off from the helicopter and speed straight towards them.

Steve faced front and thought, _Danny was right. I do randomly attract trouble. _


	22. Chapter 22

**15 miles from Iolani Palace**

The HPD car sped down Heilo Highway, swerving in and out of traffic. Steve was sitting sideways, keeping an eye on the Cruisers through the back window. So far no bullets were fired, but Steve wasn't holding his breath.

"Give me a gun!" he called back to Officer Mahelona, who was in the middle of radioing their position to HPD. The officer turned his head back and yelled back, "You're a civilian! I just can't-"

Suddenly, two bullets hit the side mirror on Officer Mahelona's side, shattering the mirror to pieces. Steve looked to the side mirror and back to the Cruisers. In the lead car, a masked man had stuck his whole body out the passenger window with a semi-automatic in hand.

"You want to try a different argument?" Steve yelled, "Give me your backup!"

Officer Mahelona pulled out a Glock pistol from his ankle holster and handed it to Steve. The SEAL ducked his head below the back window and reluctantly pulled out his cell phone to dial Danny. His partner answered on the fourth ring.

"You aren't on the helicopter, are you?" Danny replied with a large sigh. Steve paused, unintentionally allowing his partner to hear gunshots coming from the Cruisers. Steve was certain that he heard an annoyed grumble from on the other end of the line.

"What happened and where are you?" Danny exclaimed irritably.

"Two black Cruisers were waiting for us," Steve paused when the HPD car made a sharp left on to the overpass, "at the heli-pad. We're heading back in the direction of HQ, but there are shots being fired. I think I'm going to try to lose them at Leo's Dive. Can you meet us with back up there?"

"Yeah. We'll meet you there in ten minutes," Danny stated. He hung up before Steve could say another word. Steve dropped the phone onto the car seat as the police car sped down the overpass, barely missing a red jeep and a fruit truck. The SEAL readied himself to pop his head up to take a few shots at the Cruisers, but was stopped by three bullets shattering the back window. Officer Palakikio momentarily lost control of the vehicle, but regained control quickly.

"Take a right here and head for Leo's Dive," Steve yelled, referring to a small, rocky hill that was used for swimming and fishing by young adults around the area. "Gun it up the trail road, but then take a quick left right at the edge! They won't have enough time to react."

"Got it!" Officer Palakikio replied. He hit the gas and powered up the trail road with the Cruisers close behind. As Steve instructed, the officer made the quick left at the edge, just missing going over by seconds. The lead Cruiser tried to break in time, but was too late and went over. The second Cruiser swerved in response and went full force into a tree.

Steve waited until he felt the car come to a complete stop before bolting out of seat and hobbling towards the second Cruiser a few meters away. When he reached the driver's side, Steve heard a multitude of sirens from six HPD cars and Kono's SUV. Seeing that the only survivor was the driver, Steve reached a hand into the open window and grabbed the driver by the collar.

"Who sent you?" Steve growled. The driver only smiled, flashing bloody teeth. The sight was so revolting and insulting that Steve pulled the driver through the window and slammed him against the pavement.

"Don't make me ask you again," Steve growled, "How did you know that I'd be at the helicopter pad?"

The driver groaned at his pain. "There's only one way that this goes, haole. You end up smeared across the pavement and my boss gets to walk around smelling like roses, especially after he hunts down the whore sister of yours!"

Without thinking, Steve reached for the gun that was in his waistband. He pulled it out and aimed the gun at the driver. "What did you say to me?"

"Don't do it," he suddenly heard in his ear. It was Chin, who was standing right behind him. The older man placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, saying, "Don't do something you'll regret."

Steve hesitated lowering the weapon and stepping away from the driver. While Chin handcuffed the driver, Steve turned to face the ocean. He saw HPD officers standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the second Cruiser. Steve could also see Kono, who gave Steve a nod, and Danny, who didn't seem to be paying attention to the crime scene at all.

Steve walked over to the cliff edge where Danny was looking out to the ocean with an HPD folder in hand. He was way too quiet for Steve's liking, especially after causing destruction less than an hour after being suspended.

"Danno?"

Danny didn't look up from hearing his name. He only said, "Steve, we need to talk and it's not about us."

"Talk about what?" Steve asked, his eyes falling to the folder in his partner's hand. Danny handed over the folder, still not looking at Steve.

Danny took a breath. "The results of the blood drop from your house finally came in. The blood's relatively fresh, not much older than two days at best. DNA tried to run it through CODIS, but actually got an ACESS DENIED from the system. Before you called about your hourly meeting with chaos, I was on the phone with the Governor and he said that the denied access comes from the Department of Justice, specifically Witness Protection."

"Ok, then what's the problem?"

Danny finally looked over to his partner and said, "Whoever was in your house, whoever took out that safe…is directly related to you."


	23. Chapter 23

For two minutes, Steve just stared at his partner.

He couldn't move or say anything at the news of the intruder being related to him. The only person who could have possibly put the missing box in the house was his father, who had been dead for 2 years.

_I heard it. I heard Victor Hesse shoot my dad, _Steve repeated over and over in his head. He was so out of sorts that he didn't notice that Danny was waving a hand in front of his face. Danny cocked his head and let out an annoyed sigh. He then turned his head back to Chin, who was handing the driver over to two HPD officers.

"Chin, I need ya!" Danny called out to him. As the lieutenant jogged over, Danny turned back towards Steve while lightly hitting the folder against his thigh. Chin finally appeared behind him and gave Danny an exasperated look.

"What exactly did you tell him?" Chin asked. Danny's eyes darted between the two men before he exclaimed, "I didn't do anything! All I said was that the blood sample donor was related to him- it's not my fault he shut down like this."

"Why exactly don't I believe you-"

"Whoa, I may have been ticked off at the SEAL, but not enough to be an ass about news about this-" Mid-sentence, Danny clapped his hands in front of Steve's face and yelled, " Steve!"

Surprisingly, Danny's move worked. Steve slowly blinked as he regained focus. The man took a step away from Danny and Chin before exploding into a panic.

"No, no! How is that even possible?" Steve exclaimed. He had no knowledge of any relatives who had been involved in his father's investigation. His mother had died when he was just a boy and she was the thing that fueled John McGarrett's investigation. Also, both John and Doris McGarrett had been only children, leaving Mary and Steve with no aunts or uncles.

"The test doesn't lie," Danny said quietly, his expression and tone much softer than it had been earlier. "Fong ran the test three times; two of them being in front of me, Kono, and Chin."

Steve placed two hands on the cliff fence and dropped his head. "There's no way- I didn't know about this. I have no relatives on the island and Mary's in New York. She hasn't- she hasn't been on the island in weeks! And why the hell is it classified?!"

"Again, we don't know Steve," Chin replied. "I'm going to call the Department of Defense and see if they can help us. I'll be back." Chin walked towards the herd of HPD cars were parked with his cell phone in hand. At the same time, Kono and a blond haired female police officer approached the group.

"…if you don't mind me saying, this was one of the most exciting days on the job I've ever had. Is this what it's like everyday for you Five- 0 guys?" the female officer asked Kono.

Kono chuckled and nodded her head. "You have no idea. Can you give us a minute?"

The officer nodded and quickly darted off to the crime scene below the cliff. Kono took a quick glance over to Chin before asking, " What's going on?"

"We're waiting," Danny grunted, " Chin's talking to the DOD right now to see if they can explain the lovely little conundrum we're in…waiting, he _was_ talking to them…Chin?"

The lieutenant was angrily walking back over to the group. Chin pocketed his phone and growled, " I called an old friend of Joe's in Witness Protection and the bastard hung up on me!"

"Wow, language cuz," Kono muttered, which earned her a glare and a wave off from Chin. Chin put his hands together and stated, "So we can cross the DOD off of our list of people who'll help us. I called Catherine earlier and she can't help us either."

"So we're really out of ideas then?" Steve exclaimed. In the corner of his eye, he spotted an immediate change in Danny's stance. The detective was staring off into space with a pondering look in his eyes.

"What if…..what if we do something that can truly confirm if Steve here does or doesn't have some unknown relatives that are caught in this Wo-Fat business?" Danny suggested. He opened up the HPD folder and held out the DNA marker sheet that had compared the DNA samples of Steve and the unknown blood donor.

"Steve, listen to me," Danny said at the panic on his partner's face, " You say that you have no relatives besides your parents and Mary. We know for sure that it wasn't Mary since she's in New York and it wasn't Haluu or Wo-Fat because we ran their DNA and it wasn't a match."

Steve wasn't like where this was going. "And my parents are out because they're both dead. What's your point?"

Danny's eyes quickly flickered between Steve and the ocean. He had no idea how to put his next words lightly. "Well….I has always had a suspicion towards Joe about this whole thing with your parents."

"You mean how he's always been there for me?"

Danny narrowed his eyes at Steve. "Don't get snippy with me. Anyway, I think, and I say this with good intentions, what if …what if it _was_ one of your parents?"

Steve took a step, completely shocked at Danny's question. A part of him wanted to punch the detective for asking such a question. "I heard Hesse shoot my father- I buried him, Danny! Are you saying that it was all a lie? "

"NO, no," Danny put up a hand in front of the towering SEAL in front of him. "I'm saying that…I think we need to exhume both of your parents' graves just to be sure."


	24. Chapter 24

"You want me to exhume my parent's grave?" Steve repeated in disbelief. "You want me to dig them up, just like that?"

Danny closed the folder without saying a word. Steve was reacting as all families of victims did whenever an exhumation was asked of them.

"I am asking you this just to tie up any loose ends," Danny stated. He stopped mid-sentence at what he liked to call the _I am so pissed that I might say or do something stupid_look on his partner's face.

Fortunately, McGarret did neither.

Steve only turned away from his team members, remembering the many days that he had visited both of his parent's grave. Both were so peaceful that the thought of destroying that was heartbreaking.

"You know how this goes, Steve," Kono said softly, "We bring up the casket and take DNA just to be positive. It'll be over within a day."

"This could put all of our questions to rest," Chin added.

Danny nodded in agreement and turned back to Steve. "I know that we're asking a lot, but please consider this. Please."

Steve closed his eyes and thought back to the day of his mother's funeral. Mary had clung onto her brother's arm like it was life support. When Steve, Mary, and their father had watched their mother's casket be lowered into the ground, Steve had chosen to stay back to say one last thing to his mother- _I'm going to miss you, Mom. I wish you could come back._

Steve opened his eyes again. If there was any chance that his mother was alive, _any, _than he had to take this opportunity.

"Fine. Do it," Steve said in resignation. _They're dead; _He thought as he signed the exhumation paper in Danny's hand, _They have to be. _

**Aloha Pua Cemetery- Honolulu**

Two hours later, Steve, Danny, Kono, and Chin stood in front of Doris McGarrett's grave, just outside of the city. The skies had become dark in the short period, accompanied with a light drizzle that would soon turn to heavy rains, according to forecasters. The cemetery was empty, allowing for the matter to be done in private. John McGarrett's grave site at the US Navy Memorial Grave site had come up as expected- the remains of Steve's father were accounted for.

"Do you want us here for this?" Kono asked Steve softly as they watched a yellow crane lift the casket of Doris McGarret from the grave site. As it was placed onto the ground, Steve numbly shook his head and mumbled, " No."

"Hold on, buddy," Danny said. He and Chin walked up to the casket and used a pair of clippers to cut the lock. Steve held his breath as both men lifted the door open to reveal something that made the four of them gasp.

It was empty.

Steve's mother's grave- the grave for the woman who was buried 20 years ago- was empty. Behind Steve, Kono gasped, " Oh my God…"

Danny did a double take between his partner and the empty grave. The casket was completely clean- there was no dirt to signify that a body had been there or if the casket had been dug up. _Damn- I was right, _Danny thought angrily.

"McGarrett?" Danny called out. Steve paused before turning on his heels and walking away from the grave and the team. The SEAL couldn't stop- his mind was racing out of control, his heart was beating so fast that he thought it was going to jump out of his chest, and his vision was blurry. He couldn't bring himself to stop and hear the empathetic apologies or the theories on why the grave was empty. In all truth, Steve felt like he was going to pass out.

"Steve!"

"Hey Steve! Wait up!"

The SEAL kept walking while ignoring the calls from his team mates. The man continued on until he reached his truck that was parked in the lot. Steve placed his hands on the hood of the truck before his mind suddenly flashed over to Joe White, the man who had been in his life during both his mother and father's deaths.

The same man, who for years looked him in the eye and said that his mother was dead.

Steve growled in annoyance and pulled out his cellphone, dialing the US Marshall who was protecting Danny's family and Joe on the mainland.

"Commander, did something happen?" US Marshall Keith Gore answered in a hushed whisper.

"No, let me speak with Joe White," Steve ordered loudly over the sound of the now heavy rain.

"I can't let you speak to him while being away. What if-"

"You put him on the phone or else."

Gore sighed loudly before muttering, "This better be worth it, Commander." Steve could hear footsteps and a knock on a door from his end of the line. Barely audible talking followed for a minute before Joe answered, " Tell me you didn't call to catch up."

Steve jumped right to the point. "My mother's grave is empty."

"Well, did you talk to the funeral home-"

"Don't lie to me, Joe!" Steve yelled at the top of his lung. " There was no proof of that grave being dug up or even a body being there in the first place! If you lie to me right now, Joe, I swear to God! Now- is my mother alive?"


	25. Chapter 25

For thirty seconds, there was a silence between the two men.

Steve stood in front of his truck during the time period, tightly gripping the phone more and more with each passing second. He knew that on the other end of the line, Joe was trying to think of the most diplomatic, beating around the bush answer to give to Steve. Joe White was never a man to get to the point when it came to Shelburne- almost three years in to the hunt for Wo-Fat and Shelburne, Steve was pretty sure Joe had lied to him multiple times about it.

"Ah, son-"Joe tried to say, but was cut off. Steve cursed under his breath and spat, "Yes or no, Joe! I'm sick of the games! My mother is alive, isn't she?"

No response.

"You know what? I'm done with this. We're done, Joe," Steve growled, "If you don't want to tell me, fine. Goodbye." Steve ended the call and out of anger, whipped his phone across the parking lot. He was seconds away from hitting something when Kono touched his shoulder.

"Hey, it's just me," the young officer stated softly. Danny and Chin stood right behind her, the Jersey detective standing the furthest away. Danny was still looking back at the empty grave in disbelief.

"What did Joe say?" Chin asked.

Steve replied angrily, "He couldn't say whether my mother was alive or not. A simple question and he couldn't answer it- I'm done with him."

"Guys…." Steve, Kono, and Chin suddenly heard. Danny had turned completely away from them and was now wearing his infamous thinking face. "I just remembered something. When we had talked to the funeral director, there was a scrawny Hawaiian working in the back that tensed up when I had mentioned Doris McGarrett."

"And you're now just saying this?" Steve exclaimed.

Danny glared back at his partner. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Steve, I didn't bring it up because I didn't think much of it. And I know you're going through hell right now, but don't yell at me. Broken leg or not, I _can _actually kick your ass like I did when we first met."

Danny's bait worked. A small smile appeared on the SEALs face and he chuckled, "You punched me in the face after I got you shot. I wouldn't exactly call that kicking my ass."

"True, but it got you to calm down and smile as nothing is more dangerous than an irate Steve McGarrett," Danny replied in lighter tone. "Let's go talk to that employee WITHOUT any bombs, explosions, or nuclear weapons. Got it?"

Steve paused as he looked at his teammates. Even in the hard rain, he could see empathy and compassion on their faces. _Maybe I haven't lost them just yet, _he thought before asking, "Why are you guys being so nice to me?"

"Because now isn't the time to be hard on you," Chin replied, " Now when this all ends, we'll definitely get back to that, but right now, you need your ohana more than anything else. Let's go."

**Aloha Pua Cemetery Main Offices**

The team stepped into the main office entrance after a long walk across the muddy fields in the cemetery. At the front desk stood an elder man, sporting horn rimmed glasses and a Honolulu Star Advertiser paper in hand.

"Excuse me," Danny called out. He glanced over the man's shoulder to see the person of interest that they were looking for. A small slick haired Hawaiian man was bent over two cardboard boxes when he heard his name. The man froze before sprinting off through the backdoor and into the storage room. Chin and Danny darted after the man through the backdoor while Kono sprinted through the front door to cut their suspect off. And completely out of character for him, Steve stayed in the office to keep watch on the elder gentleman.

"Five 0!"

"Five 0, we said stop!"

"So help me if you don't stop running-oof!"

Through the office window, Steve saw Danny tackle the suspect to the ground. The SEAL held up a finger to the elder man and yelled, "Don't move," before limping outside. He found Kono helping Danny to his feet as they stood over their barely conscious suspect and Chin walking up to the group. The new leader of the team suddenly stopped in his steps at the sight of Steve.

"You didn't go anywhere?" Chin asked in confusion. Steve nodded, not the least bit insulted. Kono cocked her in head in disbelief and Danny narrowed his eyes at his partner. "Really?"

"Yes, Danny."

"Wow, I didn't think that was even possible for you," Danny stated. At his feet, the suspect let out a loud groan. Danny tapped his foot against the suspect's arm and said, "Stop whining. If you didn't want me to tackle you, you shouldn't have run off and ignore the warnings to stop."

"I'm hurt, man! I'm injured!" the suspect yelled, "You jumping me just made things worse!"

"Not the best thing to plea to four injured cops," Chin said. He pulled the suspect onto his feet and started walking him to Kono's SUV.

Danny turned and motioned Steve to follow him. "We can meet them back at the Palace in a sec. In the meanwhile, you and I are going to for a drive."

"Where?"

"To my good ole idiot computer genius, Toast. Let's see if any government agencies know anything about your mom's faked death."


	26. Chapter 26

**Likelike Highway**

"So is there any particular reason you wanted me to come with you?" Steve asked Danny as they drove down the highway towards Toast's new location in Aeia. Danny, who had one hand on the wheel, shrugged and replied, " Yes- if something big is going on because of your mother, you should be the first one to hear about it."

"Oh…thanks."

"What? You think I'd leave you out for something like that?"

"No, no…it's just that I had expected you to have me on lockdown at the Palace or something."

Danny smirked. "Like Rapunzel?"

When the detective didn't hear anything from Steve, he took a quick glance over to his partner sitting in the passenger seat. Steve had his head against the window and his eyes locked on the road.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Danny worriedly asked. He knew that look in his partner's eyes- something most likely dangerous was brewing in the man's head. "Before you tell me, please warn me if it involves napalm or bullet proof vests."

Steve sat up straight in his seat and placed his hands in his lap. He couldn't seem to get the image of his mother's empty grave out of his head. "I'm thinking about my mother," he said with a sad chuckle, " No wonder I suck at the concept of family. It runs in the family."

Danny pulled the truck off at the Aeia exit, which brought them to an intersection that led to a small community near the mountains. When he slowed to a stop at the stoplight, Danny turned to Steve and exclaimed, " I'm going to stop you right there. I'm going to tell you four things about our current situation that are all true. Don't say a word while I talk, got it?"

"Got it."

"Number one- You can't judge your mother as we don't even know if she is for sure alive. Two- you do know what it means to be family, but the concept seems to get lost in that thick head of yours with all the Neanderthal and trigger happy ideas," Danny said in one breath. He turned back to the road to drive down the road and onto the community street.

"And three," Danny continued, " we will figure this out, Steve. So help me, we will end all of this drama with Wo Fat and Haluu. Oh- and the fourth thing is that I'm going to buy a leash with a shocker that's also bedazzled with diamonds from Grace just for you."

"I'm touched," Steve laughed. Danny pulled the truck over to the side of the road to park. " What- about my whole go-team-go speech or the leash?"

* * *

"This community is a little too nice of a place for Toast," Steve commented as they stood in front of a blue ranch style home a block down from where they had parked. Out of the houses on the block, Toast's was in the least kept condition- the grass was almost knee length, two plants on the porch were dying, and much to Danny's distaste, there was a Christmas elf on the lawn. "Does he have a job?"

Danny gave two knocks on the door before shrugging. "Not that I know of. I'm not his babysitter."

"Well hopefully, he can get me answers about my mom," Steve said with a sigh. Danny nodded before knocking twice more against the door. Toast suddenly opened the door, donning a less than thrilled expression on his face at the sight of the two men.

"Now what?" Toast groaned loudly. Danny rolled his eyes, pushed the door further open, and stepped inside. The walkway was filled cardboard boxes, empty video game cases, and a pile of mail at the front door. Steve spotted two brand new laptops on the kitchen table.

"Wow, so where did you get the upgrade in the laptops?" Steve asked out curiosity. Toast stepped into Steve's view and whined, "Come on, guys. I got a roommate, alright? One of the laptops is his and the other is mine. I didn't do anything illegal."

"We aren't here for a welfare check," Steve stated, " We need you to do some checking through the State government database and if that doesn't work out, the US State Department and Department of Justice."

Toast froze, his eyes as wide as could be. " You want me to go back to jail, don't you? Look, whatever Detective Williams told you-"

"I didn't tell him anything," Danny snapped, " Just do it, please. It's dependent on the welfare of the island."

_Welfare of the island. Nice one, Danny, _Steve thought at his partner's statement. It worked like a charm- Toast dropped his shoulders and hesitantly looked up at Steve and Danny.

"You two will have my back if the CIA or something comes to arrest me, right?" Toast asked.

Danny held up a hand. " Scout's honor."

"Fine. What am I looking for?"

"Everything you can on Doris McGarrett," Steve answered. He could see Danny touch his pocket, look down, and pull out his phone. He waved in front of Steve and walked towards the front door. In the meanwhile, Toast pulled up his new laptop to his lap and was typing away furiously as he sat on the steps.

"Whoa….Doris….sounds like a mom name," Toast muttered as he continued his work on the laptop. " What's with the leg, by the way?"

"I broke it-"

"Then where's your crutch?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "My God, you're like a child…."

"Am not-"

Thankfully for Steve, Danny returned from the doorway with his phone in hand. "Kono just called," he said, " Our suspect started babbling about US Marshalls and Haluu- basically, we need to head back ASAP. And you, Toast, do not get up or leave the house until you find something."

"I know. I know," Toast called over his shoulder while waving both men off. Both men exchanged content looks before quickly heading for the truck down the block. Unbeknownst to both Steve and Danny was that a black Honda sat on the opposite of the street. The driver was snapping quick photos of the men as they both enter the truck and drove off.

When the truck was completely out of sight, the driver placed the camera on the passenger and picked up a Glock 17 handgun with a silencer attached to it. The driver placed the gun in the jacket before exiting his car and walking towards Toast's house.


	27. Chapter 27

**Five 0 Headquarters**

"They're going to kill me!"

Kono and Chin stood in front of the suspect that they had arrested from the Aloha Pua Cemetery. The scrawny man, no older than 40, was trembling as he sat handcuffed in front of the two cops. It had been an hour since the arrest and the suspect hadn't stopped rambling about US Marshalls since.

"The US Marshalls don't play, man," the suspect exclaimed, "Now I got them, Haluu, and fifty other thugs after me! You gotta offer me protection of some sort…"

Kono rubbed her cheek and whispered to Chin, "Please tell me that Danny and Steve will be here any second. I can't take much more of this."

"Come on, cuz," Chin chuckled, "You don't like his brilliant conspiracy theories?"

"No. How are you so calm about this?"

"Patience. It comes with age, cuz," Chin glanced over his shoulder at the sound of the interrogation room door opening. Steve stepped in first, rubbing a hand through his wet hair. Behind him, the Jersey detective walked in with a white towel over his shoulders.

"What happened to you two?" Chin asked curiously. Kono took in both men's appearance and commented, "You both look like you found trouble. I thought you were going to Toast's house."

"We did. It just started super-storm raining again outside and we had to run through the parking lot," Danny stated, using his hands to emphasize his point. He suddenly noticed the suspect, who was still rambling, this time about Haluu.

"What's his problem?" Steve asked. Kono sighed loudly while Chin replied, "He thinks that the US Marshalls are going to kill him, along with Haluu and fifty other random guys he keeps bringing up. He hasn't brought up your mother; however, that's probably because he hasn't allowed us to ask about her yet. You two can have a go while Kono and I grab some coffee."

"Have fun," Kono laughed as she and Chin walked out of the interrogation room. Danny held onto the ends of the towel that sat around his neck, saying, "Go for it, Steve."

"With pleasure," Steve replied. He called out to the now trembling suspect, " What's your name?"

"I can't, man. I'll get in trouble."

The SEAL took a few steps towards the suspect, his tough demeanor making the suspect freeze up. He dropped his gaze to the floor and mumbled, "You look her."

"I what?" Steve held up a hand next to his ear, "I look like who?"

"Well…um.."

Steve placed his hands on the chair arms and glared deep into the suspect's eyes. "Who do I look like?"

The suspect froze up again, his lip trembling in fear at the muscular 6' 1" Navy SEAL standing so close to him. When the suspect's eyes darted over to Danny, the detective placed his hands in his pocket and stated, " Hey, don't look at me. All you need to do is tell us everything we need to know and my Neanderthal partner won't kill you with his bare hands."

"Ok! OK!" the suspect exclaimed loudly, "Two weeks ago, these two guys walk into the funeral home, flash their badges at me, and ask to speak alone with me. They sit me down, show me a picture of woman in her forties or fifties, and tell me to call them if anyone comes around asking about her."

"Did anyone besides us come around?" Danny asked.

"Some islander that looked like business man. I called the Marshalls' number right after he came-"

Danny pulled up a photo of Wo-Fat and showed it to the suspect. " Does he look like this?"

"Yeah- I called them up and they told me to hold tight. I called them yesterday and they still hav-"

"You spoke to them yesterday?" Danny exclaimed. The partners quickly exchanged looks before the SEAL pulled a cellphone from the suspect's pocket. Steve turned on his heels and quickly walked out of the room with Danny.

" If they plan on calling their lookout back," Danny said as they briskly walked towards the stairwell, " They probably still have the phone on. I'll have Kono run the numbers to get a location."

"And what do I do in the meantime?" Steve asked. His question made Danny stop in his tracks and raise an eyebrow. Steve shrugged his shoulders and replied, " Call it turning over a new leaf."

"Okaayy, well hopefully this is the last possibly-explosive leaf you turn over. While we wait, why don't you take some time to prepare yourself. Twenty years is a long time to think that your mother is dead. It's going to be hard as hell to deal with the idea that she's alive."

* * *

An hour later, Steve sat on the stairwell of the palace alone. His head was in his hands as his mind was spinning again. Danny was right- the idea of his mother being alive, the same woman who played forts with him and made double decker peanut butter sandwiches him and Mary was now beginning to frighten him. He kept trying to picture what she looked and sounded like now, what she had been doing for the last 20 years- hell, what kind of clothes she wore. He wondered how he was going to tell Mary, who had already gone through enough in her life.

"Steve?"

The SEAL looked over his shoulder to see his partner at the top of the stairwell with his cell phone in hand.

"Something happen?" Steve asked worriedly.

Danny spoke into the phone, "Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett is standing in front of me." He held out the phone to Steve and told him, " We tracked the number, called it, and now whoever answered the phone wants to speak with you."

Steve pulled himself to his feet before Danny handed him the phone.

"Hello? Who is this?" Steve demanded.

"Raymond. Charlie Raymond. I see that your team and your good old friend, Adam Charles were looking into Doris McGarrett's death," the caller said in a deep, malicious tone. Steve bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from saying anything to piss of their caller.

_Damn it-Toast! _Steve cursed to himself. "Yes, we are. Are you one of the Marshalls that came around earlier?"

Raymond chuckled before answering, "Nope, but, hmmm, that's a pity that you are looking into it. It's what got your friend Adam Charles killed. "

Steve looked up to see Danny grimace at the news of Toast's death. The SEAL swallowed hard and asked, " What do you want?"

"Meet me at 739 West Nihala Street in Kaneohe in 1 hour-"

"For what-"

"Just come. Commander McGarrett, here are the conditions of the meeting- I see any of your team within a mile of the location, the meeting is off. If you want to know anything about what got your friend killed or why Wo-Fat and Loli Haluu are tearing up Hawaii for Shelburne, you'll be there. Alone."


	28. Chapter 28

**Kaneohe**

"I don't like this."

Steve smirked at Danny's comment, heard through the SEAL's earpiece. He stood next to his truck on a dirt road in front of the location that Charlie Raymond had given them. It was a two story white vacation home that didn't look the least bit suspicious. Even though it was close to 4:00 in the afternoon, there were no cars on the road. Steve was partly thankful for it as if the meeting didn't go according to plan, there'd be no civilian injuries or causalities.

"Ignore him, Steve, and just focus on the meeting," Chin said through the earpiece. To follow through with their caller's demands, the remaining members of the team were sitting in Kono's car along with two unmarked police cars four blocks away.

"It's hard- Danny sounds like my conscience with this earpiece on," Steve replied as he zipped up his jacket over the bulletproof vest that he wore. He pocketed his Glock as he heard, " So it takes a bloody earpiece for you to listen to me now?"

"Ignore him, Steve."

Danny groaned. "Chin, don't put that idea back in his head when we almost got it out. You ready, buddy?"

Steve nodded and started walking down the road to the house gate. It was way too quiet for his liking for a normal neighborhood. He pushed open the front gate and slowly stepped onto the front lawn. The lawn was unkept with the blades as high as Steve's ankles.

_This doesn't feel right at all, _Steve thought as he continued to the front door. When he reached the door, Steve saw dark eyes peeking at him from a window on the first floor. Steve knocked on the front door and saw the eyes disappear from behind the curtains. A minute later, the front door creaked open and a man that looked like the suspect currently sitting in 5-0 custody appeared in the doorway.

"I'm here for Charlie Raymond," Steve stated out.

The man nodded and stepped aside. "He's in the back on the porch," the man said, " You're carrying, aren't you?"

"No-"

"Liar. Charlie knows that you're a military man. It doesn't matter though- Charlie's a hell of a shot and will kill you if you even think about going for your gun. Head down the hall and through the door and you'll find Charlie. Enjoy."

Steve swallowed before starting at the short trek down the hallway. He pushed the door at the end of the hall open to find a blonde haired man sitting out on the porch.

"Commander McGarrett, I'm glad you decided to come," the man said. He turned his head and added, "I'm Charlie Raymond."

"I figured."

"Come take a seat. Let's have a chat." Charlie pushed out a chair from the table where he sat. Steve eyed the chair suspiciously before walking over to sit. Charlie smirked as Steve scooted his chair up to the table and cupped his hands together on the table.

"You called me," Steve stated, " What did you want to tell me?"

"I actually wanted to hear what you know about Doris McGarrett before I tell you anything," Charlie replied.

"You called me….to hand over all of my information just like that? For what?" Steve exclaimed. He put his hands flat on the table to get up and leave, but quickly heard the cock of a pistol from under the table. Across from him, Charlie raised a Glock from under the table and kept it trained on Steve.

"This isn't up for discussion, Commander."

* * *

Four blocks away, Danny's eyes widened when he heard Charlie's threat. His hand flew to the door handle as he exclaimed, " That sounded like a threat. Let's go-"

"Wait," Chin said. He pulled out his tablet and clicked the app that pulled up a satellite image of the area. Chin quickly scanned over the image and said, " Looks like Steve and Charlie Raymond are the only ones there. Something doesn't feel right about this."

"Which is why we should go!"

"Cuz," Kono called out, " if we're going to do something, we need to do it now."

Chin bit the inside of his lip and looked between his tablet and the road that led down to the house. _Damn- I hope my gut isn't right about this, _he thought before saying, " Ok, let's do it. Kono, you get our two HPD cops to follow us for backup and then take the side entrance. Danny, you take the back and I'll take the front. Let's just hope that we're just overreacting and everything's fine."

* * *

Back at the house, Steve kept an eye on the gun, remembering what the man at the front door had said about Charlie being a good shot.

"All we know is that my mother might be alive," Steve said. Charlie nodded, not moving the aim of his gun one bit. Steve quickly decided that his statement should be enough and closed his mouth. Charlie blinked a few times before he suddenly turned his gun ever so slightly and fire a bullet onto the porch, only inches away from Steve's injured leg. It took all of Steve's SEAL training to not jump out of his chair and try shooting Charlie.

_You can't go guns a blazing anymore. Keep it together, _Steve told himself as he calmly locked his gaze on Charlie. Charlie shook his head in disbelief at Steve's composure and asked darkly, " Is there anything besides _My mommy might be alive _that you want to add, Commander?"

Steve didn't even blink in response. His ears did perk up, however, at the sound of grass crunching below the porch. He turned his head slightly to see three tall and muscular men appear from under the porch, all donning AK-47s. _What the hell- where did they come from?_ Steve thought in a panic.

"I'm surprised, Commander, " Charlie stated as he slowly rose to his feet, " You're supposed to be the best of the best- _the governor's super task force. _Yet, this handy dandy team willingly sent their leader- sorry, _ex- leader_- into a trap."

_Damn it. _"You aren't with the US Marshalls….and based on you not killing me yet, I assume that you don't work for Wo-Fat or Haluu either. Who the hell are –"

"Five 0! Hands where I can see them!"

Steve whipped his head towards the hallway where he could see Danny aiming his assault rifle at two men that had suddenly appeared at the doorway. Without thinking, Steve yelled out, " Danny!" before he felt the butt of the Glock slam into the back of his head before everything went dark.


	29. Chapter 29

_My head feels like hell_, Steve thought as he slowly returned to consciousness. Groggily, the Navy SEAL lifted his head while blinking to clear his vision. When he got a hold of his bearing, Steve could see that he was sitting on a grimy warehouse floor with his hands handcuffed around a pole behind his back. He could barely see his teammates in the dark room.

"Danny? Kono? Chin?" Steve called out and received no response. Each team member was in the same predicament as him- Kono was handcuffed to a column while she sat motionless, Chin was unconscious and sitting handcuffed to the leg of metal desk, and Danny was lying unconscious on the floor while his wrist were handcuffed to an old radiator.

"Damn it," Steve muttered in frustration. He leaned forward, pulling the handcuffs against the pole as hard as he could. It was useless- the handcuffs didn't break against the strong structure of the pole. Steve leaned back and rested his head against the pole. _How the hell am I supposed to get out of here?_

"Uggghhh," Kono suddenly moaned loudly. She opened her eyes, quickly scanned the room, and then pulled her knees up to her chest to rest her head. "Crap."

"Kono?"

The young officer's head shot up at the call of her name. Even though they couldn't see each other in the dark, Kono instantly recognized the voice to be from Steve. "Hey," Kono paused to stretch her sore jaw, "You ok, Steve?"

"Yep, I'm all right," Steve stated. He thought back to seeing Danny in the hallway before knocked out. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Ummm…." Kono furrowed her brow, thinking hard about the raid on the home. "I remember taking the right side of the house and going against two guys….oh, I got rammed into the side of the house after one of them almost broke my jaw. Chin had taken the left side and Danny had gone through the front door. Where did all those men come from?"

"I don't know- there certainly weren't more than two men in the house when I had walked in," Steve replied. He pulled against his handcuffs again, which sparked a little hope in Kono.

"You have a plan, don't you?" Kono asked while watching Steve rub the handcuffs against the pole.

"Not at the moment, but give me a second. Wait, why do I always have to come up with a plan?"

Because I'm for sure that Danny is going to blame this all on you. You better have a backup plain before he wakes up or he'll raise hell," Kono stated. She tugged against her handcuffs and added, "Also preferably before this Charlie Raymond character and his friends come back-"

A loud creek suddenly echoed throughout the room from what Kono and Steve had assumed to be a lock or handle from the outside of the door of the room. The heavy door to the room slowly creaked open, allowing bright Hawaii sunlight to spill into a part of the room. While the two Five-0 members with concussions winced at the bright light, Charlie Raymond appeared at the doorway with a grin on his face.

"Hello Commander," Charlie said with a deep drawl, much different from their first meeting.

He strutted over to where Steve was sitting and kneeled down next to the SEAL. "Nine hours unconscious is a long time- I was beginning to get impatient."

"You butted me with your gun," Steve growled, "It comes with the territory. Now what do you want?"

"Like I said earlier- all the information that you have on Doris McGarrett." Charlie paused and turned to Kono and give her a wink. In response, the police officer growled in annoyance.

"Don't worry, princess. I'll have a chat with you soon, "Charlie told Kono. He turned back to Steve and sighed loudly. "Commander, commander, commander- don't make me resort to desperate measures to get you to talk. I'd rather not get blood on my new shirt."

"I'm not telling you a damn thing, "Steve snarled, "Bring your best."

Charlie smirked and stood up to face Kono. He took a few steps towards her before hearing a loud groan from Danny. The detective shook his head, allowing a few strands of his blonde hair to fall forward onto his face. Charlie kneeled in front of the detective and watched him lift his head and curse, "Who the hell are you?"

"Charlie Raymond. I'm the one who you tried to take down today," Charlie said in a matter of fact tone. He pulled a pocket knife from his back pocket and held out in front of Danny. Steve anxiously pulled against the handcuffs at the sight of his partner being in danger.

"Let us go and we can have a nice chat," Danny calmly stated.

Charlie flashed the knife in front of Danny. "I know that's a lie, detective. As you may or may not know, I need information regarding Commander McGarrett's mother, but he's being stubborn and I know that the only thing to make him follow through or listen to me is his best friend- you."

Danny smirked. "You really think he listens to me? That's-that's….you really should do your homework, buddy."

"Charlie, don't do this," Steve begged, ignoring Danny's comment, "If you want answers, just deal with me! Leave the rest of the team out of this!"

"All you have to do is tell me what you know about Doris McGarrett!"

Steve bit his lip in frustration and looked over to Danny. The detective kept a calm expression and stared back at Steve with his calm that seemed to say, _I trust you. _

"Alright, fine! " Steve yelled in fake frustration, "I'll tell you what you need to know- just leave my teammates out of this."

Charlie paused before turning on his heels towards Steve. "Get to talking before I change my mind."

"Ok, Doris McGarrett is alive. She's in HPD protective custody on Maui under the codename Skieland," Steve lied, "That's all I know."

Charlie narrowed his eyes at Steve and growled, "If you are lying to me, Commander, I will come back and kill each and every one of you." The man stood up and quickly walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. Inside, Kono sighed loudly, Danny dropped his head and shoulders in relief, and Steve started to tug at his handcuffs again.

"Oof," the three team members suddenly heard from across the room. Chin quickly stirred and looked anxiously around the room. "Guys," he nervously asked, "What happened?"


	30. Chapter 30

"So, Steven, what's the plan?"

Steve turned his head over towards Danny and narrowed his eyes. "Hey, I got Charlie out of the room- give me a minute to figure out how to get out of these handcuffs."

The SEAL pulled his handcuffs against the pole and growled in annoyance when the chain didn't break. He dropped his shoulders, took a deep breath, and then pulled the handcuffs again.

"That's been so useful, Steve," Danny snorted.

Steve scanned the area around where he sat for anything of use to unlock the handcuffs. He retorted in annoyance, "Well, do you have a plan B?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "No, that's why I asked you."

"I don't always have a plan waiting in the back of my mind, _Daniel_. Why are you so moody?"

"Concussions make me moody," Danny replied, ignoring the smirk on his partner's face. He eyes fell on the two cousins quickly talking amongst themselves. Kono gave Chin a quick nod and changed her focus over to Danny and Steve.

"I was just catching Chin up with what's going on. Please tell me someone has a plan before Charlie comes back!" Kono exclaimed.

"Since Steve's fresh out-"Danny began to say. He was quickly shut down by Steve, who snapped, "I am not fresh out- just give me a second. Ummm…. Kono, you have a bobby pin?"

Kono shook her hair and replied sarcastically, "Nope. Believe it or not, I don't always have a bobby pin on me…..Danny, what are you doing?" Across from her, Danny was staring in deep concentration at a spot on the ground with his jaw tightened.

"Danny….." Chin called out worriedly. The detective didn't respond and continued to stare at the ground. Steve opened his mouth to say something to grab his partner's attention right as the sound of Danny's handcuffs unlocking echoed throughout the room. Danny's arms came forward, showing an empty cuff dangling from the detective's right arm.

"The Jersey slip," Danny bragged triumphantly, "I knew I remembered how to do it."

"If you knew you were going to do it, why did you ask me for a plan?" Steve called out. Danny pushed himself forward onto his knees and rubbed his forehead.

"Because at the time it hadn't come to mind," Danny replied. He slowly got to his feet and groaned loudly. "Bloody concussion- my head feels like hell."

"We know- do you see anything that can help unlock the rest of us and even the door?"

"Yeah, give me a second." Danny took a few steps into the middle of the room where he could get a better view of the room in its entirety. The room was much wider than he had thought it had been- besides the desk, heater, and the two structural poles in the center of the room; there was the only wide open space that the four team mates sat in.

The detective slowly spun around, eyeing every corner of the room for anything sharp. His eyes finally landed on a small paperclip that sat behind one of the legs of the desk. He walked over and picked it up, saying, "Never been so happy to see a paper clip."

"Danny!"

"Right." Danny kneeled behind Kono and began toying with the lock on her handcuffs. After a minute, a click sounded and the young police officer became free. She patted Danny's shoulder before pulling herself to her feet. Like Danny, her head was throbbing from her concussion. Kono massaged her forehead while Danny walked over to Steve with his paperclip in hand.

"So the Jersey slip, huh?" Steve joked as his partner knelt behind him. "I thought it was only used to get yourself stuck to Lori."

Danny leaned his head over Steve's shoulder and asked, "Do you want me to unlock you or not?"

"That's what I was hoping for."

_Thump. Thump._

"Well, keep it up-"

"Or what?"

_Thump. Thump. _

Kono, who was standing near the door, held up a hand. "You hear that?" she whispered. She held her breath and heard the sound of footsteps of what she assumed to be a man's dress shoes from the other side of the door. Chin looked over his shoulder at his cousin and exclaimed, "Kono, someone's coming. Quick, unlock me!"

"We don't have enough time-"

_Thump. Thump. _

Danny sprinted to Kono's side and defensively stepped in front of her. "Get behind me," he told her. The door suddenly burst open and a man in a crisp, black suit and sunglasses stepped into the room. Because of the bright Hawaii lights and the man's sunglasses, no one on the team could recognize him, but something was familiar about the man to Steve. He didn't know if it was the military- like stance or the crispness in the man's suit.

"Who are you?" Chin yelled out angrily.

The man in the suit slowly took off his sunglasses and chuckled softly. "Someone that you'll need to trust to get out of here alive."


	31. Chapter 31

"I'm sorry- what?" Danny exclaimed. He kept his stance in front of Kono. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"It means if you don't want to duke it out with Charlie Raymond, you need to come with me," the man in the suit stated. He began to walk over to Chin, taking only a few steps before Danny yelled out, "Wait, wait, wait- tell us who you are and why you're here before you do anything else."

The man in the suit stopped in his tracks, glancing between the detective and the door. With huff of air, he said, "Joe White called me to keep an eye on you all."

"So you've been following us?" Kono asked.

"Keeping a watchful eye is more like it. I kept close after Charlie Raymond loaded you all into trucks and took you here. He has 20 men with guns so I had to wait until the right time to make a move."

"And the right time took 9 hours?" Steve called out from his spot on the other side of the room.

"Like I said- he has 20 men. When he left, he took most of them with him and the remainder I was able to take out on my own. Now is that enough information for us to be able to go?"

"Fine," Chin replied. He jangled his handcuffs. "Can someone unlock Steve and me?"

"With pleasure," the man in the suit replied. He walked over to Chin's side, kneeling next to him and pulling out a lock pick from his jacket pocket. In the meanwhile, Danny had returned to Steve's side and freed his partner within seconds. Now free, Steve got onto his hands and knees and felt the same throbbing pain in his head that the others had felt.

"Where are we? And what should we call you?" Chin asked the man in the suit once he was free and on his feet. The man in the suit put his sunglasses back and smirked once more. "I'm Captain Sonny McGraw, retired SEAL team 7. And to answer your first question, we're in Makawoa on Maui-"

Steve felt his heart stop. As a SEAL, he was trained in the art of deception just in case he were ever caught. In his many years as a SEAL, he had been lucky enough to never been caught in a lie. "I- I just told Charlie that my mother was on Maui…. They've had to figure out that I was lying by now."

"Not unless they're scouring the island looking for her, which means Captain Suit over here is right," Danny said. Ignoring the scowl on McGraw's face, he continued, "We have to leave now. McGraw, you don't happen to have some guns in that Super SEAL- suit of yours?"

McGraw raised an eyebrow in confusion at Danny's use of the term _Super SEAL. _Steve, who was now standing behind Danny, mouthed _Ignore him. _The captain shook it off and began pulling weapons from his shoulder and waist holsters. The team watched in awe when the man pulled out five handguns- two Glocks, a SIG, a Beretta and a Smith & Wesson.

Danny took the Glock and joked, "You don't have a nuke in there, right?"

* * *

Four miles away from the warehouse, the team and McGraw trudged through the forest, occasionally stepping in swampy water or climbing over large roots and rocks. Danny led the group with Kono right on his heels, the young cop keeping an eye out for anything unusual around them. Chin walked in the middle of the group quietly, also keeping watch. McGraw and Steve took up the back and had spent the last four miles talking.

"You sure you can't tell me who you work for?" Steve asked. He stopped in his tracks and allowed McGraw to help him over a mud hole.

"No, that's classified, even for a lieutenant commander like yourself," McGraw laughed. He took a few steps forward before realizing that Steve hadn't moved. Steve was staring thoughtfully at McGraw with a look that Danny like to call 'Steve's non- danger magnet thinking face'.

"You're still active," Steve suddenly said. "You may not be an active SEAL, but you've got to be active in something else. That's the only reason for the way you carry yourself."

McGraw's relaxed, trusting expression quickly faded into a serious, stone face. "My job status is classified for a reason, McGarrett. I'd drop it if I were you."

"You're a U.S Marshall."

Steve's statement caught the attention of Danny, Kono, and Chin. The three members walked back towards McGraw, who tensed up. Steve decided to keep pushing- "You're a U.S Marshall working in Hawaii, right? That's how Joe was able to get you to watch us so quickly. Plus, I have a very high security clearance so the only department with any reason to keep secrets from me would be the U.S Marshalls."

McGraw tightened his jaw. "I cannot confirm or deny-"

"My mother is alive, isn't she?"

McGraw tightened his jaw even more along with closing one of his hands into a fist. Chin spotted McGraw's hand and warned, "Don't do anything- you gave all of us guns, remember?"

"Answer the question," Danny growled. McGraw scanned the forest area around them, his eyes flickering around as if he were looking for an exit. He stopped when Kono pulled the gun from her waist, warning, "You heard my cousin- don't try anything stupid."

"McGraw…" Steve pleaded, "Come on, man. Just tell me. Is my mother alive?"

McGraw suddenly dropped his shoulders in defeat. "Yes," he muttered, "Doris McGarrett is alive. She's Shelburne."

Steve had prepared himself over the past few days over the moment of hearing about his mother and yet actually hearing it still put him into a state of shock. He let out a panicked breath and did the only thing that could come to mind- he started walking as fast as he could, past teammates and their calls for him to stop. He had no plans to stop to mull things over- right now, he was going to find his mother.


	32. Chapter 32

"Steve!"

"Steve!"

"Seriously, McGarrett, stop!"

He couldn't hear any of the calls of his name. It took Danny to sprint up to the limping SEAL and grab his arm to get him to stop. The SEAL was whipped around to face his partner slightly out of breath, standing in front of the rest of the team and McGraw. Danny released his grip from Steve's arm and yelled, "Where do you think you're going?"

"My mother's alive, Danny," Steve yelled out. He turned to walk away, but was whipped around by Danny again. The detective held up a hand, his face showing his disbelief at the statement.

"Wait, what? Did I just hear that right? Doris McGarrett is alive?"

"Yeah- according to McGraw," Steve said, "who's a US Marshall, by the way, my mother is Shelburne."

Chin's jaw dropped, Kono gasped, and Danny smirked in disbelief before his smile faded and his trademark pissed off expression appeared on his face.

"You believe him? McGraw? You mean the man we _just _met? What- you two are best buds now where you listen to everything he says?" Danny exclaimed. McGraw, who was facing away from the group and scanning the forest, turned his head back towards the group and yelled, " What's that supposed to mean? I just saved your life!"

Danny scoffed at McGraw's insulted tone. "Yeah- that doesn't mean I trust you," the detective growled, "For all I know, you could be re-leading us back to Charlie Raymond."

McGraw marched up to Danny, stopping inches away from Danny's face. "Really? You think I'm out taking you four on a field trip?"

"Ladies, quiet!" Chin exclaimed. He slid in between Danny and McGraw, facing in McGraw's direction. "No man would be dumb enough to release three hostages and give them functioning weapons-"he paused just as Kono slid out her gun clip, revealing a full clip.

"Thank you," McGraw replied happily.

Chin held up a finger and motioned back to Danny standing behind him. "But Danny's right- we barely know you, McGraw. You can't come in, claim to be watching us, spring us, and then drop a bomb on Steve like that! Consider yourself under suspicion until we get back to civilization. In the meantime, we all stay together- got it?"

"Yes, boss," Kono replied with a smile. She glanced over to Steve and her smile faded at the panicked, fearful look on the SEAL's face. "Steve, it'll be ok."

"Yeah," Danny chimed in, "Keep your hope down until we see a blood test and your mother _physically _up and moving. None of this craziness is going to make sense until we see her. And at that point, she can explain why Wo-Fat is running around the island looking for her, why she's Shelburne, and why she gave birth to a lunatic such as yourself."

Steve smiled at the end of statement, thankful that Danny could always insert a little hump rom the middle of a rant. His partner watched his shoulders drop and the tension in his body lessen. "You're right, Danno."

"I'm always right," Danny said happily. He turned to face the steep slope at the edge of the path that they all stood on. Danny thought, _we should probably head down the slope and get off the path. _

Before he had the chance to even father how they would get a 6'1'' muscular SEAL with a broken leg down a steep slope, Danny heard the cock of a weapon off in the woods. The rest of the team heard it as well and all froze; the only person that didn't have an emotional response was McGraw.

"Everyone get down!" Chin whispered loudly. Steve and Chin ducked behind two wide trees while across the path Danny and Kono leaped behind a large dirt pile at the edge of the path. As before, McGraw had very little emotional reaction; he only held up his gun and aimed it in the direction of the noise.

"Get down!" Danny hissed at McGraw. The captain nodded his head and whispered back, "Go- I'll take them-"

"Not by yourself!" Danny protested. He stood up to walk over to McGraw, but was pulled back behind a tree by Kono. Back on the other side, Steve stood up and exchanged a concerned look with McGraw. The look in McGraw's eyes was all Steve needed to know what the man's plan was- McGraw was going to take one for the team that he barely knew.

"Let him go," Steve said faintly. "McGraw knows what he's doing."

"And we don't?"

"Guys….." Steve warned. Chin stared at Steve curiously before finally understanding that whatever McGraw was planning, Steve knew what it was and that it was the best course of action. Danny looked between Chin and Steve before muttering, "It's a SEAL thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, and I'll explain later. We need to go-"

"Down the hill," Danny finished, "I'll go first, check it out, and then the rest of you guys can follow."

"I'll provide backup to McGraw until it's clear," Chin volunteered. He drew his weapon and aimed it in the same direction that McGraw was aiming. Danny sat down at the edge of the slope and placed his hands on the ground next to him. After saying his usual _I don't want to die _prayer, Danny pushed himself forward and began to quickly slide down the slope towards the water. He landed feet first into the water and sunk below, his feet soon touching the pond floor. Danny pushed off and resurfaced before giving a thumbs up.

Kono followed by sitting down and pushing herself forward down the slope and unlike Danny, she slid into a large, bent tree branch that stuck out the side of the slope. She turned her body and held out a hand for Steve to prevent him from sliding all the way down the hill at full speed. Steve followed her down the hill and was easily stopped halfway. Together, they both slid down the rest of the slope and landed in the water next to Danny.

"Ahhh, damn it!"

Kono looked up to the top of the slope at the sound of Chin's cursing. Four shots echoed from the slope top and were suddenly followed by silence. Kono opened her mouth to yell for her cousin, but Steve put his hand over her mouth and shooed her. Danny quietly swam to the edge of pond, thinking the same thing as Steve and Kono- _Is Chin ok? And what happened to McGraw?_


	33. Chapter 33

Steve held his breath for what felt like the longest minute of his life.

Steve, Danny, and Kono floated quietly throughout the pool with each having their eyes locked on the top of the slope. In the one minute, there had been no sound- no footsteps, no heavy breathing, no talking- just the sound of the breeze blowing around trees. The quietness was slowly beginning to have a maddening effect on the three 5-0 members.

Danny stayed above the surface of the water by gripping the wet, muddy grass on land with one hand and holding the weapon McGraw had given him in the other hand. The detective kept the weapon aimed towards the top of the cliff, ready to shoot anyone who even stuck their head over the slope. Kono wasn't much better- barely holding it together; Kono was serving as a 'mini raft' for Steve, who couldn't kick strong enough to stay afloat on his own. How she hadn't already climbed up the slope to look for her cousin already was shocking to both Steve and Danny.

Steve, occasionally releasing his grip on Kono's shoulder to give her a break, had begun to assess the situation in front of them. _Three possibilities- Danny's suspicion about McGraw was right and he did something to Chin, both men have been killed, or they've gone to make sure the area is clear. God, I hope it's option #3. _

"Chin?" Danny whispered, well knowing that it was both dangerous and unlikely that Chin or McGraw would hear them. "Come on, buddy. You there?"

"Danno…." Steve warned. He once more let go of Kono's shoulder and scanned the surrounding areas at the top of the slope and near the pond. _Maybe Chin is hiding like the rest of us-_

"Kono, what are you doing?" Danny suddenly whispered.

Steve dropped his gaze to in front of him to see Kono slowly paddling towards the edge of the pond. As quietly as she could, she pulled herself on to the wet ground and landed on all fours. With her gun in hand, Kono began to crawl towards the bottom of the slope right below where she had last seen Chin.

"Kono, get back here!" Danny repeated. He cursed under his breath when the young officer ignored his calls. He pulled himself out of the pond, much quicker and louder than Kono had and turned around to see Steve barely holding his head above water.

"Aye, McGarrett- grab my hand," Danny said, extending his arm out as far as he could. Steve kicked with his good leg as hard as he could and successfully grabbed Danny's hand. He was quickly pulled onto the edge of the pond where he rolled over onto his side and looked over to Kono. She shook her head at him and raised her gun, saying, "I'm not just going to sit here while my cousin could be in danger. I'm going up there."

"Let's think of a plan first," Danny suggested with a bit of worry in his voice. "There could be 20 of Raymond's men up there- charging up there, guns a blazing is going to get us killed."

"Sitting here when Chin could be up there in pain could get him killed!"

"Yes, I know that-"

"Sorry, Danny. I'm going," Kono said with finality. She inhaled deeply and stuck her foot at a small hole in the bottom of the slope to begin her climb. At the same time, Chin appeared at the top of the slope just in time to see Danny, Steve, and Kono point their weapons up in response.

"Chin! Seriously?!" Danny exclaimed in frustration. " We could have shot you!" Behind him, Kono sighed in relief and Steve chuckled, also in relief.

Chin smiled. "I'm sorry- we were a little busy. There were two guys that we had to chase for a little bit, but we got them. You guys ok?"

"Yes –sliding down a muddy hill into water was a ball of fun," Danny snorted. He stood up and wiped the wet mud off of his arms. He took a quick glance over to Kono and Steve, who were just as muddy. "So we're back to square one- in the middle of nowhere, but also muddy and gross."

"Actually, we aren't." Chin dug into his left pocket and pulled out a small key ring. " Our friends have- well _had-_ a car. There's a map on the car dash and we can get to Pukalani from here."

"What's in Pakaluni?" Steve asked. The name sounded so familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Apparently, it's where your mother is."

* * *

Forty minutes later, Chin drove a dark blue pick-up truck onto a smooth, white driveway that led up to a two story home. It was completely different than what he and the rest of the team members had pictured for a safe house. Two SUVs sat at the front of the driveway, looking normal as ever. The only thing that looked somewhat strange was that all of the window blinds were closed. McGraw, who sat in the passenger seat, was completely unfazed by it.

Chin pulled the truck up to the front door and turned off the ignition. McGraw stepped out of the passenger seat and held up a silver U.S Marshall badge in his hand visible to the windows and doors. He held the badge up for a few minutes before the front door squeaked open and a tall African American stepped out.

"Sonny, hey! We were beginning to get worried," the man laughed. McGraw pocketed his badge and walked up to the man now standing on the front steps. He shook his hand and replied, " Sorry, things got a little hairy out there. This team was hard as hell to keep up with and rescue. Meet Kalakauwa, Kelly, Williams, and McGarrett."

The man didn't have time to even raise his hand to wave before Steve was sliding out of the back of the truck and onto the driveway. On the ride over, he had been in a daze that got worse the closer he got to the house. Now that he was back in reality and focused, he was going to go find his mother.

"Commander," McGraw yelled to try and grab Steve's attention. The SEAL only pushed past and entered the house without a word. As Steve marched towards the stairs, he could hear Danny apologize to McGraw and the African American, " Sorry, he wasn't born with manners…and in many cases, listening skills. Steve, wait up!"

Steve limped up the flight of stairs and opened the first door in the hallway. The room was a bathroom and was completely empty. He didn't return to close the door and continued his way down the hallway.

"Steve, what are you doing?" Danny asked, appearing at the top of the stairs. Steve ignored him and opened a second door, which led to an empty library room. He growled in annoyance and crossed the hallway to open the third and final door.

"Steve, just wait a minute," Danny said in a huff when he finally caught up to Steve. He put a hand over the doorknob and asked cautiously, " This is a lot to handle right now- are you sure you want to do this?"

Steve's response was simple- he pushed Danny's hand to the side and opened the door.


	34. Chapter 34

The bedroom, a one bed suite, was empty.

Placing his hand on the armoire against the wall near the door, Steve took a deep breath as his mind went into a frenzy. McGraw had said that his mother was here, she had to be. _Unless she's hiding in the basement, she isn't here. _

Next to Steve, Danny glanced back into the hallway and back to his friend. "Steve….."

"She's supposed to be here…" Steve muttered, barely audible to Danny. The detective nodded and placed a comforting hand on Steve's shoulder. "She isn't here, buddy, and I'm seriously starting to doubt that she ever was. You want me to kick McGraw's ass for you?"

Steve smirked at Danny's joking tone. Blood relative or not, his partner had always been there to pull him through the fire. He placed his left hand over Danny's and said, "No, but thanks for being here, Danno."

Both men turned on their heels to walk out of the room, but stopped when they heard the faint sound of humming coming from the other side of the room. Danny took a couple steps to his left, leaning sideways just enough to see a door, presumably to a bathroom or closet. The doorknob slowly turned and a brown haired woman stepped out, completely unaware of Danny and Steve's presence. With a bright laughter that Steve found familiar, the woman walked over to the bay windows across the room and laughed, "Marcus, I told you already- I'll be down in a bit to play football."

"_Marcus?"_ Danny mouthed to Steve and his partner shrugged in response. Steve crossed his arms and took a moment to examine the woman. She appeared to be in her fifties, skinny with short brown hair. _She looks so different, _Steve thought, _This can't be my mother. _

"Marcus?" The woman turned around and froze at the sight of Steve and Danny. She gasped quickly and then called out, "Steve? Is that you?"

_Question answered. _Steve looked away from the woman. It was his mother, twenty years older than he had last seen her. It had been such a beautiful day when Doris McGarrett had waved goodbye to Steve before she had headed out into town and never returned. Now, his mother was standing across the room from him in the flesh and he didn't know what to do.

Danny stepped in for Steve, angrily asking, "Doris McGarrett? As in the supposedly dead Doris McGarrett?"

Doris shrugged her shoulders and smiled tearfully. "That's me. My God, Steve, you look so much like your father."

"Don't talk about him," Steve snapped. He glared at Doris with the same look he reserved for suspects. "Don't talk about the man that raised Mary and me after your supposed death. He died for you!"

"Steve-"

"I don't want to hear it," Steve snapped. He walked out of the room without a further word. While in the hallway, Steve could hear an argument brewing between his mother and Danny.

"Leave him, Ms. McGarrett. I don't want you near him until I get some serious proof that you are who you say you are."

"I need to speak to him. And who do you think you are to speak to me like that?"

"I'm the person that has had to put up with his crazy genetically bred antics for the last three years. Stay away from him."

_Even after all this, Danny still fights for me, _Steve thought sadly. He pushed himself from his position of leaning against the wall and started limping towards the room door closest to the stairwell. His leg was acting up badly, either from running around in the forest or his frustration at Doris. Steve couldn't care less which one it was.

He opened the room door and limped inside, finding himself in a smaller bedroom with a queen bed in the middle. Steve hobbled over and slowly lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. He rubbed the back of his neck before placing his head in his hands. _This is too much for me,_ he repeated over and over in his head.

_Knock. Knock. _

Steve groaned loudly at the knock on the door. He knew that it had to either be his mother wanting to talk, which he had no interest in, McGraw with some information on Charlie Raymond, Wo- Fat, or Loli Haluu, or someone from the team ready to give him a pep talk.

"Steve, I know you're in there," Danny called from behind the door. "I'm coming in-"

"No, Danny! I just need five minutes where everyone would just leave me the hell alone!" Steve yelled. A few seconds of silence passed before the door suddenly opened and Danny walked in. The detective placed a stack of cards on the bed next to Steve, plopped down on the edge of the bed, and then said, "I'm not going to talk you into any mother- son family time. I do know that you want to be alone, which isn't going to happen because you have a habit of creating your dumbest ideas when you're pissed."

Danny waited until Steve smirked before he continued. He started shuffling the cards on the bed while saying, "So, here's what's going to happen- I'm going to whoop you in poker about ten times, stretch, and then do it all over again until you feel better about yourself."

Steve nodded and turned his body so that his injured leg could rest on the edge of the bed. As Danny shuffled, Steve said in a cracked voice, "Mahalo, brother."

"Mahalo to you, too."

* * *

"Ms. McGarrett?"

Doris McGarrett looked up from her feet to see Chin standing above her. Doris was sitting crossed armed in front of the door where Steve and Danny had been in for the past few hours. She hadn't done anything else since the fight.

"Call me Doris," Doris chuckled. She pulled herself to her feet to get a good look at Chin. From her memory, he hadn't aged much since she had last seen him so many years ago. She also wasn't surprised to see the Five-0 badge strapped to his jeans waist.

"Ok….Doris. I just wanted to see how you were doing," Chin replied.

"No offense, Chin, but are you saying this as a professional or saying this because I used to watch you play football?"

Chin scoffed and shook his head. "I'm asking because I want to know how the woman who used to poke fun at my high school phased induced bang period became the most wanted person in Hawaii."

"I'm ex-CIA," Doris said faintly. She stepped across the hallway and placed her ear near the door. She had heard chatter to laughing from behind the door for hours, but now it was completely quite.

"So you're a fed? An actual fed?"

"Uh-huh," Doris replied faintly. She placed her hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it. Inside, she found Danny and Steve both asleep on the bed with the playing cards in between them. Steve lay facing away from the door and was resting his head on his crossed arms. Danny was lying on his back and was snoring lightly.

"Um- wow," Doris commented, noting how both men had somehow fallen asleep on the queen size bed. Unexpectedly, she found Chin smiling while taking out his cell phone and snapping a picture of the partners.

Doris raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ammo for the next time Kono and I comment to them about their class five bromance. They're adorable, aren't they?"

"I guess. I'm not entirely a fan of Detective Williams right now."

Chin pocketed his cellphone and turned his attention to Doris. "Danny has every right to be pissed at you. The effects of your faked death have had a massive effect on the way Steve functions. Danny, who was actually forced into the partnership, has been there for Steve every step of the way. Steve is daring and does a lot of things in the middle of the case irrationally. It's how he has the broken leg and Kono and Danny have casts on their wrists."

"My son did that? There's no-"

Chin motioned over to the hallway and led Doris out of the room. After closing the door, Chin said in a louder voice, " He blew up a home, totaled two cars, took out seven thugs, and did some other damage that I'm sure we'll find out soon all in the time span of about an hour. He's usually better than that- he usually keeps it to dangling men off of roofs, jumping from two story buildings into swimming pools, and leaping onto bad guys on a normal day."

"My God…" Doris gasped. She turned away before chuckling softly, "That reminds me of his father."

"I don't remember John McGarrett being as…let's call it, adventurous as Steve is."

"Well, the adventurousness comes from his father and I'm guessing the craziness comes from me," Doris said sadly. She cocked her head curiously at the sight of a frantic McGraw sprinting up the stairs.

McGraw gave Doris a nod and asked, "Where's Commander McGarrett?"

"Resting," Chin answered, "Along with Kono and Danny. Something happen?"

"Gather your team-"

"It's going to be just the two of us for now. When you've been shot at, kidnapped, out for almost nine hours and tracked through the jungle all in one day, you'd need a rest too. Now what happened?"

McGraw hesitated before pulling out a satellite photo from a folder. He held it out to Chin and said, "We know where Wo-Fat and Haluu are."


End file.
